


A Cookie Kind Of Love

by looppug



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: AU, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Romance, soft Jughead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2019-06-12 09:21:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 102,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15336762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/looppug/pseuds/looppug
Summary: Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper were as close as you could get to a best friend, they did everything together. Since they were four, they always stuck close to each other, Betty was the first friend Jughead ever had and her family took him in like a son. They were two peas in a pod, where she went, he followed and vice versa, that was until they were twelve and Jughead had to leave Riverdale with his family. They sent letters back and forth but of course it wasn't the same and soon, Jughead stopped replying and Betty was heartbroken. Now they're 18 and Jughead is back in Riverdale for his senior year, Betty has moved on and has a boyfriend who she thinks she loves.Jughead slowly develops feelings for his long time best friend but he has to move past his crush because she's taken by a muscular, football playing red head. Why would she fall in love with the scrawny kid from her past?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter's aren't long which is why there will be a lot.

Prologue

_“Don’t go Juggie.” Betty pleaded, her eyes locked on their intertwined fingers, Jughead’s fingers stained with oil and Betty’s painted in pink. He sniffled and Betty looked up. In her eight years of knowing him, she had never seen him cry, not once, not even when he broke his leg from a bike accident. He was the strongest boy she knew… apart from her dad of course, and here he was, tears streaming down his face. Suddenly aware of Betty’s presence, Jughead wiped away his tears with the hand that wasn’t holding hers and sighed. He turned to face her for the first time that afternoon and looked at her hopelessly._

_Several minutes before, Jughead had knocked hard on her door before Betty showed up with a huge smile on her face obviously unaware of what would happen in the moments to come. He grabbed her arm and ran, Betty was so used to this practice that she didn’t think much of it and just ran with him. He didn’t say one word even when they slowed down as they reached the muddy forest, she stared at him the entire time wondering why he was being so quiet. Jughead stopped at the river, their favourite place to be during summer and whispered “I’m leaving tonight, forever this time, Betty.”. She wasn’t sure if she heard correctly, was he just mumbling random words? She hoped. As if Jughead had read her mind, he repeated it a bit louder and then sat on the grass. Betty followed, dipping her toes into the cold water._

_He told her that they were leaving to Chester, which had to be a 4 hour plane ride from here she thought to herself. He said he wished he could stay with her, and that’s when Betty held his hand. The short time after that was silent until Betty broke it and Jughead cried, she looked at him with wide eyes and then she, too started balling her eyes out. Jughead knew he didn’t have much time as they needed to leave before the sun set but he wanted to see her for the last time._

_“Betty, I need to go, I only came to say a final goodbye. I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Please don’t cry. I know your address, I can mail you, and maybe I can tell you mine so that you can reply” He said whilst wiping her tears with his thumb._

_“No, Jug. You can stay with me! Please stay with us. You can’t leave me” she quickly answered back when he pulled her in for a hug. Jughead started stroking her hair, something he knew soothed her but this time it didn’t work. She pulled away first and started shaking her head, tears still rolling down her cheek. Jughead suddenly leaned in and pressed a kiss under her eye before he turned and quickly ran off before she could protest. Betty wanted so badly to chase after him but she knew that on any given day he could outrun her easily. She crumpled on the ground and cried a bit more until her eyes felt sore and the sky was dark._

That was the last time Betty saw Jughead, but now it was the day before senior year, six years since he left and Jughead was back in Riverdale. He hadn't spoken to her in three years, sure they both tried to mail each other for a while but it slowly became too much for Jughead, and Betty stopped getting letters. Through the window of Pop’s diner, it looked as though she moved on. Of course she had, why would she wait around for the sad, loner child that wasn’t bothered to return a simple message. Jughead could just about make out what she was saying from where he was standing, she was sitting across some redhead, giggling. A sudden feeling of regret started to creep up his body, he had forgotten how her eye glistened with golden flecks whenever it hit the light the right way, and how she would openly laugh so carefreely, something Jughead always admired about her. Who was this person eating with Betty? He looked muscular and strong in many ways Jughead did not. Even though Jughead knew nothing would be the same if he ever went back to Riverdale, deep down he had hoped that Betty would still be there to laugh till they cried and to hold his hand when it hurt.

Jughead debated whether or not to go inside, he was starving after all and he was craving one of Pop’s famous burgers. He started walking towards the door, I’ll just go in and order takeaway. I won’t even need to disturb Betty or her date, he thought to himself just as his hand touched the door handle.Before opening the door, he peered in and realised that he remembered everyone there. People from when they were three, Kevin, Josie, Veronica, Ethel, Melody, Reggie, Cheryl and Jason. It must have been a farewell-to-summer party, it was a tradition started by Veronica’s parents when they were just about to start kindergarten together. He sighed and started walking back to his motorbike empty handed. He couldn’t just show up, besides, people would find out tomorrow.


	2. i

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty's POV

My alarm clock ran at exactly 6:12 and I woke up with a grunt. I should've listened to Kevin and gone home with him earlier instead of partying at Pops till midnight. I was feeling rebellious I guess, Mom and Dad are on some journalist retreat and will be back tomorrow, Chic and Polly aren’t in Riverdale for a while. I used my tiny bit of freedom and now it’s definitely something I regret. I haven't even ironed my clothes or prepared my bag, what would Mom say to this.

I hear a car outside and immediately know who it is, grabbing my things, I quickly run out the door,

“Morning Arch” I said as I slipped in the front seat next to him. He leaned in for a kiss. “Morning sunshine, you look cute as ever” he cooed. The ends of my lips curved upwards and I knew this would be a great start to the year. He glanced sideways at me noticing my radiant vibe and did his prominent half smirk before accelerating out of the neighborhood. I was a bit nervous, I always am when it’s the first day back but the smell of Archie’s car was so comforting and so like him, that I soon forgot my first day jitters.

We reached the car park and I got out of the car while Archie took his bag from the back. He was wearing his varsity football jacket and although I wasn’t cold or wearing anything without sleeves, he took it off and gently put it over my shoulders. It was a way for him to show that I was his and although I am a strong feminist, I do like the thought of belonging to him. It makes me feel important and loved. Archie is one of the most popular boys in our year, girls want to be me and guys want to be him. He slung his arm over my shoulder and we walked towards the entrance, meeting Veronica halfway. I saw her yesterday but today she looked all giddy and excited, so unlike her on monday back-to-school morning. If she was acting weird, I took no notice of it and continued to walk in. In the main corridor, I greeted most of those who were at the party last night and I said hi to a couple of students a year below who I had known last year from student council. A few people walking by casted sideway glances at us, it could be Archie, but we’ve been dating for almost three years now and the entire school knows so why is it so weird for them to see us hand in hand? Archie didn’t seem to care and I turned to Veronica, who looked nervous now.

“Why is everyone looking at us?” I question when Veronica looks back at me. Veronica stood still in the middle of the corridor ‘You haven’t heard?” I paused and so did Archie. “Heard what, V?” We carried on walking, the entire school was buzzing with enthusiasm and I could hardly hear what Veronica said afterwards. I repeated my question and she mouthed a few words, I’ll tell you later, and waved her hands. After being friends with her for around 15 years, I knew what her hand signal meant even if I couldn’t read what she was saying and nodded as she hugged me and turned to the opposite corridor. Archie and I walked a bit longer, stopping every once in a while to talk to Archie’s football team mates, eventually we reached my main room and I shifted to face him.

“I’ll see you later okay?” I croaked and he nodded, tucking a stray strand of hair from my ponytail to the back of my ear. “Keep the jacket in case you get cold” he insisted and kissed me lightly on my forehead. “See you at the cafeteria, cupcake”. At that moment the bell rung and everyone that was left in the corridor scattered into their main room, Archie waved bye and ran to his room knowing that he would be late. I smiled and walked through the door, finding a seat behind Kevin in the middle of the classroom. I turned to face Kevin and I groaned, the smile plastered on my face gone. “Kev, I should’ve listened to you… I’m so damn tired” he grinned and I knew what he was going to say, I told you so, but he didn’t get to because our tutor waltzed through the door humming his favourite song, It’s a small world.

Mr Moyes put down his mug and faced all of us. “Goooood Mooooorning my little busy bees, remember when I first called you guys that? You’re not so little anymore. SENIOR YEAR! How exciting is this? I remember my senior year, had to go to prom with my cousin” we all laughed despite ourselves, that was Mr Moyes, always here to lighten the mood even when he knew the whole class dreaded this final year. “But there is always light at the end of the tunnel! My cousin ditched halfway and I met my lifelong best friend and now wife there, so never give up hope!” we all heard this story countless times, whenever someone needed a laugh and a good motivational talk, this would be the conversation. Not that anybody minded, there were lots of other stories as well.

He sat down on his desk and everyone continued talking to one another until he suddenly stood as if remembering something important. He looked at us with a face that we all knew meant to be quiet and the entire classroom drifted to silence. Mr Moyes walked to the door and pulled it open, motioning for someone to walk in.

“Class, we have a new student-” Mr Moyes stated and looked towards the door. Out of everyone in the world, this was the last person I expected. Jughead Jones. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t just imagining things, he was still there. Kevin who was sitting in front of me, turned around to look at me. He knew how close I was to Jughead, he was one of the first people I told when Jughead left. The rest of the class looked at the new boy without a hint of excitement, none of them knew Jughead. They had either come from overseas at the start of high school, or they went to a different elementary school. Riverdale wasn’t big but as far as they were concerned, Jughead was just some new kid coming from a place close to New York.

“This is Jughead Jones everyone” Mr Moyes continued, patting him on the shoulder. “He’s here from Chester but he grew up in Riverdale, isn’t that right boy?” he said. Jughead nodded, his eyes scanning the room. I hope he doesn’t see me, please don’t see me, please don’t make eye contact with me. I looked down at my desk trying to avoid his stare. “So this is class 012C, we are very happy to see a fresh face, you’ll be here every morning for attendance and if you check your schedule then there will also be one real class with all of us” Mr Moyes carried on.

I was sure then that Jughead stopped caring so I looked up and our eyes instantly locked. Several emotions went through me then, sadness, frustration, hurt but still a little part of me was happy. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, I used to be able to before, that’s what happens when you spend every free moment together. Him leaving was the most painful thing that ever happened to me, even to this day, six years later, I remember how my heart felt like it dropped to the ground the day he left. I looked away first, aware that my eyes were starting to water.

“If you ever need help, if you get lost, then anybody here can help you…actually, that’s what a form leader is for. Could our form leader wave her arm?” He requested. I slowly raised my hand and Mr Moyes pointed at me. “This is our form leader, B-”

“Betty Cooper.” Jughead interrupted. His voice had changed, it was deeper, more hoarse, but still so Jughead. Everyone else sitting turned to face me, confused as to how he knew my name. Mr Moyes raised his eyebrows at Jughead and quickly chuckled.

“So you two know each other. Anybody else you knew from before?” Jughead shook his head, it was true because Jughead had never really talked to anyone else, not even Veronica or Kevin who he had known since birth. “Well this will be easy. She is the person to go to for anything, school help, outside help, any other kind of help… she’s the one!”

After a moment of silence, Jughead spoke. “I’m sure of it” he wasn’t smiling but his eyes had lifted a bit and I felt warm at his expression that I once knew so well.

“Well, you might have to get to class soon everyone. Jughead why don’t you pull a chair and sit next to Betty over there” Mr Moyes instructed as he handed a chair to Jughead. Jughead ignored the stares as he dragged his chair next to my seat, slowly putting his bag down on the floor. The whole class erupted into conversation again and Mr Moyes went to his desk. I didn’t know what to say, it suddenly felt awkward, to my luck, Kevin turned around and started making small talk with Jughead.

“You may leave a bit early or you can stay till the bell rings but otherwise, you’re dismissed. Have a nice first day everyone!’ Mr Moyes shouted over the chatter, I jumped at that opportunity and without looking at Jughead, raced out of the classroom. I already learnt my timetable off by heart and I knew that my first class, history, was with Veronica. Is that why she was acting so strange? I tried not to think about Jughead as I walked to the classroom, I arrived early and students were still inside that main room. Finally, people started to file out one by one out of the room and I walked in taking my usual seat.

Ms Holiday flashed a toothy smile at me and starts writing things on the whiteboard, most teachers now have started using computers for classwork but Ms Holiday still teaches with chalk. Her grey hair curls upwards and her skin sags down a bit, she must be one of the oldest teachers here, she’s wise and always knows how to teach a group of disrespectful teens. I smile to myself, she’s been my teacher ever since I started here at Riverdale High and I’m so grateful that she will be preparing and teaching me for the finals.

People start to shuffle in, taking seats at the back and already starting to misbehave. I patiently wait for Veronica, I know she’d want to hear about Jughead being in my main room. She sees me the second she’s past the door and and pulls out the chair on my left, she starts going on about something Josie said and I hum quietly to show my disinterest. Taking a hint she stops talking

“What’s wrong?” she asks.I look at her with an aspirated sigh and I let her read my eyes.

“Oh my gosh, you saw Jughead.” it wasn’t a question but I still nodded.

“Is that what you were trying to tell me earlier? That he came back? V, he’s in my main room” I muttered quietly and she gasped.

“No way! B, I swear I didn’t know until I saw him with my own two eyes this morning, I would’ve told you if I found out-”

“Hey you don’t need to explain yourself. I’m not mad that you didn’t tell me.” I assured. By then everyone was in class and Ms Holiday was standing at the front of the classroom waiting for the full class’s attention.

“Good Morning everybody. I understand that it’s the first day back but could we all contain our excitement for the end of this class, your first class of the year has just started and we’ve already wasted five minutes” She had a gentle tone to what she was saying, it didn’t seem like she was telling us off. “I recognize most of you from last year, I’m joyed that you have decided to continue with history. For those who have never been in my class, my name’s Ms Holiday. Now, should we start the lesso-”

The door suddenly burst open and everyone turned their chairs to look, including me. Jughead slowly walked in and scanned the room once again, his gaze caught mine and this time he turned away first.

“I’m sorry I’m late” he looked at me again “This is my first day, I couldn’t find my classroom because... my form leader left abruptly before I could say a word” my jaw dropped, did he just blame me? He turns back to face Ms Holiday and introduces himself, I hear snickering at the back and I’m sure Jughead does too.

“Ah… well Jughead, you can take a seat at the front, we were just about to start.” Ms Holiday said calmly and proceeded to the chalkboard. I tried so hard to focus on what she was saying, something about a genocide but my mind already drifted off somewhere else. Veronica nudged me and I looked at her blindly, she knew that I was thinking about Jughead. He sat two rows in front and one seat to the right of my chair, he started taking out his books like everyone else had done and then his arm went up to touch his beanie. The beanie. Why didn’t I notice it before? A distant thought that I forgot about for a while came back.

We were sitting in the forest, I had told him to meet me there at half past four and he was there before me. I was five and he was turning six the next day. Just like every other summer day, we launched ourselves into the river and started splashing each other with water. I knew Mom would get mad at me when I got home, for getting my clothes wet again but she could never stay angry for too long because she knew I was with Jughead. She liked Jughead, he was part of our family. Dad liked him, Chic did too, Polly thought it was weird that I only played with him. When we stopped giggling and got out of the salty water, I handed him a perfectly wrapped bag. It was one of my hobbies at that time, to wrap everything. Jughead looked at me as he took the gift

_“What is this for, Betty?”_   
_“Your birthday.” I replied nonchalantly even though deep down I was nervous to see his reaction to the present._   
_“But my birthday is tomorrow, you know that.” he said examining the pattern on the paper._   
_“I wanted to be the first one to give you a present. Open it” I simply replied. He nodded then and carefully tore off the tape knowing that I spent a lot of time to wrap it. He put his hand in and pulled out a grey beanie, I was glowing even if he didn’t notice but my smile slowly dropped when I couldn’t see a reaction._   
_“You don’t like it.” I stated, I liked it and I thought it was perfect for him “I got it for you to cover your hair, you always fiddle with the curls” I continued. I felt like I was going to start crying and he pretended not to notice to save me from the embarrassment._   
_“I do like it, Betty. But it’s a bit big” he said and I took it from his hand, it did look big when I bought it but it was the only size they had. I put it on his wet hair and flattened it down._   
_“Hmmm it is big” I muttered to myself “You can grow into it, Jug” He smiled and hugged me. “Thank you, Betts. I’ll never take it off”_   
_“That’s gross, Jug. You must!” and I pulled off his beanie and pushed him back into the water._

And true to his word, he never took it off. Not in front of other people at least.

After what seemed like forever, history was over and I trudged out with Veronica, Jughead only a few meters behind me. I wanted to turn around and hug him, I wanted to make up for lost time, but Jughead broke my heart the day I stopped receiving letters. Veronica squeezed me goodbye and walked to her next class, I continued walking forward allowing myself to glance at the reflection of the windows to look at Jughead. The image was a bit blurry, we were walking, but I could still see his brooding eyes and lazy stride. I quickened my pace so that we wouldn’t have an awkward encounter, this should make me feel guilty, several years ago it would but I didn’t think too much of it as I turned to the next hallway.


	3. ii

The bell rung and students busted out of their classrooms quickly filling the hallways. It was lunch break and as hungry as Jughead was, he was desperate to find his locker so that he could put down some books. He realised this morning that half the lesson resources he bought online were available in class so dragging along all the books wasn’t necessary. He looked at the number on the post-it that Mr Moyes had given him earlier that morning, 617. Jughead wondered around for a bit, skimming the top right corner of all the lockers and with no luck at all, he found his locker.

A few lockers ahead stood Betty trying to kill time whilst waiting for Archie, she took out a few decorations from her bag and removed some from last year. This had been her locker since the start and pictures were stuck around her mirror, one with Veronica from when they were seven, a couple with Archie and Veronica. Her eyes moved to another picture hidden behind her timetable, the left part had been torn off but the remaining picture showed a smiling nine year old Betty standing with Chic at Polly’s eleventh birthday party. Her fingers brushed over the jagged tear and she found herself thinking about the other part of the picture.

Jughead closed his own locker door and started heading towards the steps to the cafeteria, at the corner of his eye he saw a blonde ponytail. It had been a while since he’d seen her but Betty’s hair was unrecognisable. He started walking towards her, in his head he was pondering if he should talk to her or not. Betty didn’t seem to want anything to do with him when he first entered the main room, yet he took a step closer and before he could change his mind, he tapped her on the shoulder. She was leaning against her locker and jumped at the touch.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you” Jughead said before she could even turn to him. When she did, her eyes immediately dropped to her feet and he could feel his heart race. What do I say now?

He cleared his throat “umm, nice jacket.” Where on earth did that come from? Betty looked at what she was wearing and realised she still had Archie’s varsity jacket.

Betty pulled it around herself protectively. “It’s Archie’s” she replied almost choking on her words.

“Archie. The redhead?” why did I say that. He dropped his gaze wanting to take back his rudeness, he knew Betty didn’t like impolite behavior. She nodded and looked at him, she took in every part of his face, the way his hair curled, his eyebrows furrowed, his stormy blue eyes, everything. He quickly apologised and Betty opened her mouth to answer but stopped when Archie called her from behind. She swiftly turned on her heel and Archie dipped his head to her lips and quickly pecked them.

“How was your day?” he questioned, not noticing the dark figure standing behind Betty. She smiled and weakly said it was good.

“Could I borrow your calculator for next period?” he said, still ignoring Jughead. Betty rolled her eyes at his forgetfulness and spun the number lock. Unlocking the door, Jughead moved a step to the left to avoid being hit. As Betty’s hands fumbled with all her folders, Jughead peered in nosy and started studying the pictures that were stuck decoratively around a small mirror. A lot with Archie and Veronica. One with just Veronica when they were in primary school that he had taken.. A polaroid picture of her and Archie kissing by a sunset.

As he was just about to look away he caught a glimpse of another picture hidden amongst the rest, he stared at the torn line remembering that day so clearly.

_Betty and Jughead were trying to fit as many marshmallows in their mouth as possible, Jughead fit twelve and Betty slowly stuffed her thirteenth one in not allowing him to beat her. All the marshmallows were almost gone and Chic walked up to them giggling at their red faces, this caused both of them to burst out in laughter. What happened next was no surprise, the marshmallows flew out of their small mouths in gooey chunks onto the grass and they laughed even more. Chic was on the floor crying happy tears and Betty quickly ran to find some tissues to clean up the mess. Somehow Polly found them hiding behind a table and started telling them off for making a mess at her party, her mom Alice followed the sound of Polly’s yelling which lead her to them. After a lot of convincing, Polly went back to her friends and Alice insisted that they took a picture just the three of them. Betty wrapped her arms around Chic and Jughead and they all smiled happily._

It was Betty’s favourite picture for a long time, she had printed several copies at a nice photography shop, it cost her a whole month of pocket money at the time but she didn’t regret it. Betty tore Jughead out of the picture during the first year of Riverdale High, after waiting for months for a reply she got fed up and out of instinct, ripped him off. She felt ashamed as she crumpled paper Jughead but she couldn’t stick it back, the mark would still be there.

Jughead swallowed hard, by then Betty had followed his gaze to the picture and she hesitated before flipping the photo to it’s other side. She stared at him for a while, he looked hurt and it made her heart ache.

Archie observed the two before clearing his throat. “Hey man, stop laying eyes on my girl.” he chuckled jokingly. Betty eyes widened and shot him a serious glare.

“I, uh, wasn’t lookin- sorry.” Jughead stammered in reply

“No, don’t explain yourself,” Betty said looking at Jughead “Archie, this is Jughead. Jughead, Archie.” she said coughing awkwardly. Both their eyes were battling each others and Betty didn’t know what to do. Archie raised the tension as he sneered at Jughead’s name, just like the kids earlier in history lesson. Betty swore she saw Jughead flinch but besides that, his face remained emotionless.

“Archie,” she said, her voice leveled, he knew he crossed a line, that it was a warning. “Could you wait at the cafeteria?” she paused, eyes searching him. “Please.” He looked at Jughead one more time and pulled her close into a searing deep kiss. He wanted to make sure Jughead wouldn’t dare do anything with her. Betty pulled away shocked and hoped it wasn’t a way to make Jughead jealous.

He walked down the steps, glancing back at Betty before disappearing from their sight. Jughead thought to himself then that he didn’t like Archie, if that kiss was supposed to make him envious, then it worked. He didn’t wish to be with Betty romantically but he could already feel that Archie was possessive although he didn’t tell her because he knew that she always thought never to judge someone unless you really know them. He found it a bit silly when they were still children but now that he thought about it, if she didn’t think like that then, they never would’ve been friends.

Her family was perfect, even when her and Chic and Polly were young they already learnt proper etiquette. Her parents were perfect as well, they had more than enough money to raise their three children. It was different for Jughead, his father was some gang leader and without that title, he may have never started school. All the members of the now disbanded Serpents chipped in a little out of pity so that Jughead could have a proper education. He had to wear too small shoes and scruffed up clothes to school. The kids in his year didn’t care what he looked like or how he got to school on the back of his dad’s motorcycle, in fact they thought it was cool. But he couldn’t avoid the stares parents would give him or Fp, his father. They would look at Jughead in disgust, sometimes even pulling away their children from him.

After the first year of elementary, he and Betty walked home together like usual, her siblings taking a faster route. Once they past the forest he told her, his only real friend, that he might not be able to go back to school next year. He explained that they didn’t have enough money and that some of the Serpents had their own children to send to school. Betty didn’t understand, they never had money issues, but later when she got home, she cried and told her mom. The next year he was back at school, and all the years following. He only found out after they had left Riverdale that Hal, Betty’s dad gave his own dad some cash and even offered him a job. He never got to say thank you or ask Betty about it but he knew that she had convinced her parents to help him.

Betty sighed “Jughead…” she drifted off, she didn’t know what to say after not having a single conversation with him in three years. He didn’t know what to say either, the silence became more uncomfortable.

“It’s been a long time” he whispered almost to himself. She separated her lips for a split second but then she stopped herself, trying to find the right words.

“I-I...can’t, Jug” was the only thing that left her mouth as she stepped backwards and hurriedly turned around, walking in the opposite direction. What do I do now? I can’t just let her leave. Jughead thought to himself and he chased after her calling her name. She stopped.

“Betty, please speak to me. Say something. Anything” he said gently

“What- what do you want Jug? Her voice getting caught as she was trying to stop tears. She hadn’t cried over Jughead in over two years and she really didn’t want to in front of him.

He thought for a moment. What did I want? “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left”

“Jughead, you couldn’t control that. I’m not upset that you left. I’m upset that you stopped sending me letters” she said, now she was definitely crying.

“I know, I know. I didn’t think it mattered to you that much” he said looking at his shoelaces.

“What?” she managed to gasp out. “I went crazy, Jug. Waiting for your reply. I waited a week, then two, and then three. I thought by then you would’ve sent one back. Three weeks turned to three months. And you know what, Jughead? I checked the mail everyday. Everyday. Waiting for you to reply.” she stopped to wipe her tears.

“Betts-”

“No, I’m not done. I got worried, maybe something happened to you. So I went out to the Southside to find Toni, we met a couple of times and we bonded over your letters you sent to me and the ones you sent to them. I asked her if she got anything from you recently. Do you want to know what she said? She pulled out an envelope from a drawer and said it had come in the week before. Those words stung. And then I realised that Polly was right, you did stop replying, your letters weren’t misplaced and delivered to someone else’s home or whatever other excuse I made for your absent letters. I hated you, Jug. And I hated that I missed you at the same time.” Betty could no longer talk because she kept sniffling, she pulled out a tissue from her bag and started dabbing her eyes.

“I wanted to reply, Betty. I did. But it became so hard only reading and not being able to see you.” Jughead said after a moment.

“It was hard for you!?” she whispered-shouted in return. “Do you know what people said to me once you left?” she cleared her throat. “Still thinking about the weird kid?” “Why would you let him talk to you in the first place?” she said mimicking adult voices. “I told them they were wrong, every time. It was painful but our letters back and forth made it worth it, I still felt close to you. We did it for three years, we could’ve done it for three more. Why did you stop?”

“I told you, it was hard. I have my reasons” he said reluctantly.

“It was a rhetorical question,” she said quietly because now they were standing only a few centimeters away from each other. “Forget I said anything” After another awkward silence

Jughead stood up straighter. “When did Archie come?” It was so out of the blue and had nothing to do with the conversation they just had, yet Jughead was curious.

“Around the time you stopped returning letters,” she said bitterly. “We started dating not too long afterwards” she added, sensing that would be his next question.

He nodded slowly. Betty thought about it then, she never expected them to last for more than a year and now their three year anniversary was only two months away. In a way he was sort of like a rebound, to the love she never really had. Him being there occupied her thoughts more and more and she stopped spending hours thinking about Jughead. Betty never told Archie about him, it never really came up because when he arrived, she and Veronica were already super close. It started off as friends, the three of them, and then one day he kissed her. Archie was her first real kiss, she hadn’t forgotten Jughead’s but they were always on her hand or cheek, never square on the lips. Archie treated her well and soon enough people forgot about Jughead, her and Archie’s relationship was always the conversation linked to her. She was happy with him, really happy and she didn’t want it to change just because Jughead came back.

“Jughead, I really can’t do this,” she blurted “Not now.”

“I understand, I’ll give you time. Maybe we can talk tomorrow?.”

She duck her head. “No, Jug. I need time to think by myself, I can’t with you pressuring me.”

“I’m not,” Jughead said quickly defending himself. “I’ll wait as long as you need. One week?” Betty shook her head. “Two? Three? I’ll wait a month, even two. You can’t push me away forever.” he said a matter of factly. She raised her head to look at him and choked out a goodbye before she raced down the steps to the cafeteria.

Jughead stayed where he was, looking at nothing. _That didn’t go too badly. It could’ve been worse_ he thought to himself. He no longer wanted food and decided to find his classroom before everyone started rushing to theirs. As he sat in his Spanish class waiting for lunch to be over, he took out his laptop and plugged in a flash drive of pictures, hundreds of them. He opened a folder and scrolled through looking at all the pictures of him and Betty, most of them were taken by her mom, some were just photos he took of her with a camera Betty got him for his seventh birthday. He looked at all the pictures of them covered in mud or dripping wet after playing at Sweetwater river and he wondered if it could ever be the same.


	4. iii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer than the others, Barchie at the beginning (sorry, I'm not a fan of that ship either) but there'll be Bughead in the second part of this chapter.

Betty's POV

School was the same, nothing really changed now that Jughead was here. When I got home after my first conversation with Jughead I immediately called Chic to tell him, Jughead was like the brother Chic never had. He was surprised and wanted to know more, when I told him that I wouldn’t speak to Jughead any time soon he sounded disappointed.

I tried hard to avoid Jughead, it wasn’t easy because it turns out we have a lot of classes together. I started going to the blue and gold room to tidy up things every morning just so that I wouldn’t need to see him in the main room. I told Mr Moyes that the room was in tedious state and that it was necessary that I removed all the dust before I could get people to sign up. He was against it at first but ultimately decided that as long as I showed up at the last minute for attendance, then it was okay.

The school’s paper had been forgotten about last year, with the last people in the club graduating the year before, it was cut out of the budget. I always wanted to join, since my first year but they had plenty of people and said I wasn’t needed, last year I crept into the room and found that everything was coated in dust.

After countless emails, I finally convinced Mr Weatherbee to let me start the paper again. The only problem was that I had no one to help so far and being the final year and all, I wouldn’t have enough time to write it myself. As a kid, I didn’t read for pleasure, it was just something Mom would always make me do to stay top of my class in all subjects including English. Slowly it started speaking to me, no thanks to her and someday I think I could be a journalist. I’ve got to start somewhere and the school’s paper is just the way to do it.

BLUE AND GOLD NEEDS SOME WRITERS,  
The papers won’t write themselves.  
If you are interested in writing and willing to give up some extra time,  
THEN THIS IS THE CLUB FOR YOU.  
First meeting is at the beginning of lunch on 27/09.  
Bring your friends, everybody is welcome, even if you have no experience!

I looked down at the last minute flyers that Veronica suggested would help me advertise, it never even crossed my mind to do this. The 27th is just a week away and hopefully there is a good turnout. It’s almost been a month since school started, sign up sheets and posters announcing new clubs already filled the front bulletin board and walls.

The bell just rang and everyone was rushing out of the exit, happy that it was a friday. Archie and I walked silently together retrieving his papers from his locker. He was putting up football sign up sheets, as the team captain he decided to promote it a bit more. We both know they probably weren’t going to accept anybody else because so many boys want to join and there are already three teams. Though if they wanted another team, Principal Weatherbee might give them more money, the school takes football very seriously.

“Do you think anyone will show up next week?” He asked me as we were trying to find the start of the tape. I looked up from my hands and shrugged.

“Hopefully.” I reply hastily

“Has anyone shown any interest?”

“Well other than you…and Veronica, then no.” I said firmly

“I mean any interest in joining.”

I finally got the tape to unwind and set it on the table besides us. “Yeah, I know what you meant.”

“Why do you think I’d want to join?” he said as if that really were the problem at hand.

“You’re asking an awful lot of questions about it,” I chuckled. “Nevermind forget it.” I say dismissively.

I know he doesn’t like doing the things I enjoy doing, like writing or baking, he doesn’t have the patience for it. It’s sort of what keeps our relationship interesting but sometimes it’s very challenging to find something we both like. I make an effort to watch his football games and talk to his teammates about it. I sit in his room silently whilst he plays music, but I can’t deny that I like watching his fingers strum and his focus. I go to parties with him, a lot of them, even though I’d much rather stay at home and read a book.

We continue to the next hallway, trying to find the most convenient places to put it. It’s quiet, the only sound I hear are our footsteps. I’m not sure what to say now and I think he’s wary of the silence as well.

“So Reggie is having a party tomorrow night. Not today because his parents are still here.” he says out of the blue. I know what he’s about to say next. “I already told them we’d be going.”  
I sighed louder than I expected and Archie looks at me with a puzzled expression. He always did this, accepting something for me before even consulting me about it first, I would’ve said no to the party and I guess he knew that which is why he always answers for me. I nod but don’t say anything back. After another brief silence he pulls me into a hug.

“I’m sorry. Don’t be mad” he says into my hair.

I sink into his arms. “I’m not mad.”

“I think you are,” he says wilfully. “I won’t do it again, I’ll ask you before I say you’re going to the party” he continues and my heart softens at his tender tone.

“That’s not why I’m ma- a bit mad,” I say pushing myself out of his arms. “But I’ll accept your apology.” He smiles and I smile back. I know I can’t stay angry at him so I never bother trying.

We finished sticking up all our posters half an hour later and Archie drove me to Veronica’s place, my parents wouldn’t be back until midnight and it seemed pointless to stay alone at home. Every third friday of the month, Veronica and I would have a sleepover, just to catch up. We pulled up at her house and I kissed Archie goodbye.

“I’ll pick you up at 6 tomorrow from your house for a quick bite before the party, okay?” he shouted as I walked up to her door, I raised arm and gave him a thumbs up before clicking the doorbell. I could faintly hear him say love you before he closed the window and sped off to god knows where. After ringing the doorbell twice, Mrs Lodge opened the door, one hand on the knob and the other fixing her earring.

“Oh Betty, hi!” she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around me.

“Hello Mrs Lodge, thanks for having me” I say pulling her in tighter.

I can feel her smiling against my shoulder. “Of course! You’re welcome here anytime” she said.  
I know she isn’t just saying it for the sake of doing so, to be nice or whatever, and I only say thank you every time to be polite. She’s like a second mother to me, even when I wasn’t the closest of friends with Veronica, she would always look after me, Polly and Chic if our parents were out of town. It only made being friends with Veronica later even easier, we’d known and at the same time not known each other for so long.

“Veronica is taking a shower at the moment, I was just about to head out. Help yourself to some food or you could wait for her in her bedroom.” she says pulling away. I nod and she takes her chanel purse from the glass table and waves her hand before closing the door behind her.

I take off my shoes and leave them on the side before walking up to her room. Distantly I could hear Veronica singing to Beyonce and I smiled to myself as I sat on her furry mat, she didn’t like it when other people sat on her bed without asking and I was no exception. Her room still looked the same as it did when she was 5, obviously it wasn’t as childish, most of her toys were donated to a children’s hospital in New York. It still had the same colour theme, white and purple, her favourite colours. It was a bit more posh and more ladylike with pearl jewelry hanging from decorative pieces and a large vanity that had mini light bulbs around the mirror. I actually remember the day she bought it, she’d been wanting a makeup area for a while but couldn’t find any mirrors or shelves that she liked. It was a Friday and we were strolling around one of the few shopping malls nearby. We passed by a Target like department store and knowing that she wanted a makeup table, I insisted we go in to take a look. Veronica was a bit skeptical telling me that she wouldn’t find anything but didn’t have a choice because I walked in ignoring her. I was right and she fell in love with that white vanity almost as quickly as she laid eyes on it.

A lot of things in her room brought back good memories, the white rug I was sitting on, I had actually chosen. Her walls were painted white but you could see the underneath the paint that it was once purple, Veronica grew out of the purple walls but her parents wouldn’t get a professional to change it, so I volunteered to help. The painting wasn’t the best but we had a lot of fun doing it, Veronica said she didn’t mind that you could still see the purple, I minded though.

After sitting by myself for a good couple of minutes, Veronica came in with wet hair.  
“B! I didn’t know you were already here, I would’ve gone faster.” she said apologetically as she went over to a drawer and pulled out a towel. We talked for a while before going back downstairs to watch a movie, she chose Alice In Wonderland and I went to her kitchen to get popcorn. We both made ourselves comfortable on her couch, hugging pillows and lifting our feet up. Twenty minutes in she slid over to my side, I looked at her and laughed.

“How are things with you and Jughead?” she asked unexpectedly. This was the first time she mentioned him in two weeks and I was glad because honestly, I didn’t know either.

“I’m not sure V, we’re still not speaking.” I shrugged in return. We both looked back at the screen.

“He asked me about you.” she said quietly. My attention was on Alice and I almost didn’t hear.

“Really.” I said, still more interested in the movie. “What did he say” I said finally.

“He asked, ‘Will Betty speak to me?’ and ‘Is she alright?’” she replied, her hand reaching the remote and pressing pause. I tore my gaze away from the TV and turned to face her.

“And what did you say?” I asked eventually.

She shook her head “It doesn’t matter, B. I think you should talk to him.”

“I don’t know, V. I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to do…”

She told me not to think too much about it. She said ‘just tell him anything’. She tried to make me feel better. We didn’t continue with the movie in the end, we started baking mini apple pies from scratch, it always took longer that way. Soon we both forgot about the conversation on Jughead and our night finally ended with us gossiping in whispers, thick blankets covering us on the couch..

It was 10 when I woke up and Veronica was still sound asleep next to me. I find a piece of scrap paper and take out my own pen, I left, Mom and Dad are waiting. Text me when you wake up. Love, B. I set it on the coffee table and try to leave without making any noise, if Veronica’s parents were awake, they would insist that I stay for breakfast.

I took my time walking home, even though it felt like I was carrying rocks in my bag. There wasn’t a single cloud in sight and the air was blowing my hair upwards, it was quiet breezy for September so I guess we’re having an early winter. Arriving home I hear shouts in the dining room and I walk in to find Polly and dad in a heated argument.  
Polly throws a spoon lying on the table to the floor and I jump back. She screamed in frustration.

“What is going on?” I say when they carry on fighting as if I wasn’t there. “Is this what you do when mom isn’t home?” I cry even louder. Dad is the first one to stop yelling and turns to me.

“Your sister here,” he says pointing at Polly. “Drove our car out in the middle of the night, drunk might I add, past the speed limit and crashed into a lamppost.”

“At least I’m alive!” Polly shouted. Dad turned back his head and glared at her, I haven’t seen him this mad in months. He muttered something under his breath before storming out, Polly stares as he leaves and then brushes a hair covering her face away. I pick up the spoon on the floor and take it to the sink and I hear her pulling a chair out.

“That’s very dangerous, Polly” I say after a while.

Polly’s head shot straight up. “You don’t think I know? He doesn’t have to say it so loud for the entire neighbourhood to hear. It’s like he wants me to be the embarrassment of the family.” she says putting her head back against the table.

“He’s just worried for your safety. What if you weren’t that lucky?” I say softly.

She snorts and then shakes her head. “Whatever. You wouldn’t understand.” and she stands up to leave.

“Where’s mom?” I call after her.

“At the sheriff's, trying to sort out my problem.” she says sounding bored.

“What about Chic?” I say, there’s no reply and I take that as a sign to shut up.

“With mom.” she yells from upstairs.

I sigh to myself as I make breakfast. It takes a while to get the fluffy texture from pancakes and when it’s done, I hear the door open with Chic and mom coming in. I look in their direction and Chic smiles as he walks to me, mom quickly nods before going into another room. We end up sharing the pancakes and talking for an hour before he has to go back out and run some errands. I wash everything and then go into my room, falling onto my bed.

When I wake up, it’s already half past four and I can hear my stomach rumbling. I’m still in the same clothes I was wearing yesterday so I quickly slip on a pair of jeggings and a loose pink sweater before going downstairs. This time Chic and Polly are sitting across each other arguing, Chic glances up at me and points to a plate of lasagne which I gladly take. I get a fork and start pushing up mouthfuls in, barely giving myself time to chew. After some time, I put down my fork and wipe my mouth. Suddenly Chic rises and slams his hands on the table.

“I am not lending you my car and that’s final.” he said looking straight into Polly’s eyes. She pursed her lips, her nostrils flaring. Did Polly not get told off enough already, why did she need to drive again? Out of the three of us, Polly was always the rebellious one, always trying to annoy mom and dad. It was like she really wanted to be told off, unlike her, Chic and I always listened, me more so than him but he was really academic. His trophies that he won in both sports and academic competitions are displayed all around the house, sometimes I find it hard to live up to that but I’ve got a few achievements too. Polly never wanted that kind of thing, being the middle child maybe she just wanted attention and doing the opposite of what my parents said would give her that.

It seemed like they had been arguing for a while and Polly once again walked away. Chic sighed as he sat back on his seat in silence, it was peaceful, other than the tap running when I washed my plate, there was no other sound. My phone started ringing and I looked at Chic hoping he would answer it for me because my hands were soapy wet.

He nodded and picked it up. “Hello?... Betty’s washing her plate… yes…” he covered the speaker with his hand and turned to me. “It’s Veronica, she’s talking about Jughead.” My eyes widened a little and I put down the rag and plate walking towards him. He mouthed bye and walked out of the kitchen.

“Veronica what is it?” I ask

“B! Are you going to Reg’s party tonight?”

“Yes, why? What does this have to do with Jughead?”

“Reggie says he invited him because he helped him do some homework or something. It doesn’t  
matter why.” she paused. “Jughead is going to the party!” she whisper-shouted into the speaker. winced and rolled my eyes.

“Are you going, V?”

“No, busy. I know you’ll be with Arch but leave him for a couple of minutes and speak to Jughead”

“I can’t just do that.” I stated

“Yes. You can. Archie will be drunk an hour in and then you can slip away for… a bathroom break” she squealed at her plan and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Okay, you’re hurting my ears now. I’ll let you know how it goes. Archie should be here soon” I said, she sung bye and ended the call.

Not long after, I heard the doorbell ring knowing it was Archie and I grabbed my purse and stumbled to put on my converse before opening the door. His red hair was gelled slightly back and he was wearing a hawaiian shirt with colourful flowers, I smiled at him and he frowned back at me.

“What’s wrong?” I say quickly checking if I have tomato sauce on my sweater.

“Don’t tell me you’re wearing that to the party.” he says

“Why not?”

“Go change into something nice. My favourite white dress.” he suggests. My eyebrows fly up.

“Do you know how cold it is out?” I question. The dress he was talking about only went up mid thigh and had no sleeves, Archie said it hugged me in all the right places and showed off my long legs. I was never really a fan of the dress, Polly got it for herself but it wasn’t the right size so she gave it to me, I only kept it for Archie.

“I’ll warm you up,” he said. His head nodded to the stairs. “Go on, I’ll wait here.” I stared at him until it felt weird and then I did as he said and went up to change. I took off my comfortable outfit and felt hesitant to put on the dress. Immediately afterwards, feeling the bareness of my legs. I looked in the mirror doubtful and irritated. I smoothed out the edges and left my room before I could change my mind. I put back on my converse when I got down and even though it looked like he was going to request me to wear another pair, he didn’t. I yelled into what seemed like an empty house before closing the door behind me and climbing into Archie’s car. We ordered takeaway from Pop’s and ate in Archie’s car because all the booths were full.

When we arrived at Reggie’s house at 7, the party was already full on, we could hear the music and shouts from blocks away and I felt bad for the surrounding houses. We were welcomed in by one of Archie’s football mates and they started yelling at each other over the music. Archie took my hand and he lead us to the bar where Jason offered us alcohol in a red cup. I really didn’t feel like drinking but Archie took two and handed me a cup once we walked away. A couple of his friends started running up to him and he released my hand following them to the backyard.

Keep me warm, my ass. I thought to myself when the aircon hit me. I found Cheryl, she was probably here because Jason was. She was standing with a couple of older looking girls, they must’ve been in college, how did Reggie get them here? Cheryl was holding a cup but she looked sober and I decided that I would hang on to her until Archie came back. The girls she was with were as drunk as you could get without throwing up, they probably had more than enough cups but I was done feeling sorry for myself so I walked up to them, taking another cup on my way.

They were singing loudly along to the music and dancing awkwardly, Cheryl turned to face me and we tried to talk but couldn’t hear one another. Suddenly, one of the girls in the group yelled ‘BEEEEER POOOONGGG” and everyone else cheered. I joined after a while and lost, a lot. Soon other people started gathering and games started getting bigger with more alcohol, yet I didn’t stop. We moved on to other drinking games and I found myself chugging a huge glass with at least thirty people around cheering me on.

When I finally glanced down at my watch it was already eleven, it didn’t even feel like four hours passed. Archie was still not in sight and I started yelling, I could barely walk in a straight line and I felt dizzy, he was my designated driver but there was no doubt in my mind that he would be getting drunk tonight too. I stumbled through Reggie’s house occasionally opening doors and seeing my classmates bare bodies having wet sex. I got to his backyard and it was so full, I couldn’t walk for five seconds without being elbowed. Keep your eyes open. Keep your eyes open. I repeated to myself, crossing my fingers and hoping not to faint.

“Archie?’ I yelled on top of the music, nobody heard me. Was Archie even here? I hurdled myself to the corner of his house and puked into a drain, it was watery and started dripping onto my white dress. I sighed and stood straighter before walking back into the house and taking out my phone. I dialled my home number, it said it wasn’t available. Did I press the wrong numbers? Too lazy to try again, I called Veronica and hoped she would pick up. She did.

“Betty?” her voice full with concern

“V! I… can’t find Ar-archie” I say, my words slurring. I didn’t want her to worry but my plan to sound sober, backfired.

“You can’t? How wasted are you?” she demanded

I giggled into the phone. “Don’t be so serious.” I hear another ring and bring my phone in front of my eyes. Veronica would like to Facetime. I smile and accepted. Her face popped up on my screen and I giggled again.

“How many drinks have you had?” she asked, her eyes big. She was in her pajamas and the clear headed part of me felt guilty for disturbing her.

I was swaying to the music now. “Relax. I’ve only had,” I raise up 3 fingers. “Five cups.” and then I laughed again. “Everyone here is pretty wasted.” I say after looking around.

“Have you tried calling Archie’s phone?” she asks

“Yes.” I lie. It seemed dumb that I hadn’t and I didn’t want her to be annoyed with me for not doing so before asking for her help.

“Okay, let me see what I can do.” she said. The music was a bit quieter now, I sensed that Reggie’s neighbours complained. Her eyes lit up as if she had a light bulb moment. “Jughead must still be at the party, maybe he can walk you home. I doubt he drunk much.” I nod senselessly, my attention on a few people vaping on the couch. “Stay there and don’t move. I’ll call you later.” she said and ended the call. I leaned against the wall and started counting sheep. Was help going to arrive? The weight of my body felt too heavy and I slid down onto my butt, wanting to close my eyes and sleep.

Just as I was about to doze off, a pair of hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me up. The fabric of my dress was so thin, I was immediately grateful that whoever was here had a warm body. I leaned against their warm embrace, feeling muscles flex against my own arm. Was it Archie? Had he come after all? I looked up and didn’t see his familiar red hair, instead it was black and a bit curly.

“Hold on to me. Don’t fall asleep. I’m taking you home.” it said huskily. I decided he was a boy. Why did Veronica ask a boy to send me home? Did she say anything about who it was when we were calling? I already forgot and honestly didn’t care. This voice sounded trustworthy.

We got out of the house and I started searching frantically for my purse. The strong arms holding me lifted up a bag and I squinted at it, it is mine, I thought to myself astonished. I must have said it out loud because the mysterious boy laughed. We walked in silence for a while, the party scene slowly drifting away as we walked further out of the neighbourhood.

“What’s your name?” I giggled losing balance and tumbling to the floor. Before my face touched the ground, his arms were around me. I barely caught his name when I fell. _Khaled? Jayden? Toby? Hunter?_ I settled on Toby and looked up at him.

“Toby is a nice name.” I say. He looks back at me, curious.

“Sorry, what?” Toby asks

“Toby. Your name.” I reply pointedly. He chuckles and one of his hands go up to his head as he moves his beanie. My free arm that isn’t around Toby’s is up before I can think about it and I touch the soft cotton, or is it wool? I can’t tell.

“It’s a nice hat” I say smiling like an idiot. “Very soft.” he glances down at me again. I gasp. “Maybe I should get one for myself! Getting kind of sick of my ponytail.” I say, really happy with my brilliant idea.

“Yeah it is a nice hat. A special girl got it for me for my sixth birthday” he says softly. I nod.

We walk a lot longer than I expected, Toby’s arms always around me whenever my legs felt like jelly and I fall to the floor. We talk the whole time, mostly about nothing I guess, I don’t really remember what I say even after I just said it. I think we get home at around midnight, I hear muffled voices from my room, Toby puts a plastic bag next to me and says something about vomiting before turning off the lights and shutting my door. I whisper goodnight, and fall asleep before I know it.

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Betty woke up and looked around her, wondering to herself where she was. She looked at her phone, 10:45!? She sat up quickly, scared that she was late for school. Betty sighed in relief when she recognised her room. Her head automatically started throbbing in pain and she glanced down at her phone again to see what day it was because surely her mom would’ve waken her up for school already. It was a Sunday and just as she was about to yawn, she could feel herself start to puke and ran to her bathroom.

Thoughts from last night came back, it was the most she’d ever drank and she wished she stopped after her first drink. She felt tired and everything was sore but she also felt like she was on the edge of starvation. Betty quickly flushed the toilet that had some sort of thick orange liquid in it and rinsed her mouth, daring herself to look in the mirror. She splashed water on her face before brushing her teeth and combing her hair. Downstairs, she could hear laughter, it was unlike their normal Sunday morning where everyone was doing their own thing, in their own room. Betty tied her hair back and took off her white dress, soaking it in the bathtub, she wore her pink sweater from yesterday and a pair of shorts and then started walking downstairs.

The whole family was sitting around the table, Hal, Alice, Chic, Polly, but the seat Betty usually sat on was occupied by Jughead. He must have said something funny and everyone laughed again. Hal was the first to notice Betty and he stood up to pull in another chair.

“Oh, Betty, how are you feeling?” asked her mom. Betty nodded and started to reply before she was distracted by Jughead and his beanie.

“What’s Jughead doing here?” she asked accusingly, everyone looked at Jughead but Jughead turned to face Betty.

“Sweetie, you didn’t tell us he was back!” her dad said in a joking tone, Alice nodded in agreement  
“We would have invited him over ages ago.” he said.

“Chic knew.” Betty replied and Chic shot her a look. Her mom and dad didn’t say anything to that and they laughed it off.

“Jughead here, was kind enough to bring you back home, after the party,” Alice said gently, smiling over at Jughead. “Imagine how hard it was for him.” she added.

“No, no, really it wasn’t any trouble.” Jughead said.

“Toby…” Betty grumbled and Jughead smirked at her. What else did I say last night?

After a while, Hal coughed. “Well don’t just stand around. Have some breakfast. Jughead made it, who knew he could cook!” Betty was shocked to hear that he made their breakfast, she looked down at her plate. Scrambled eggs, sausage and a hash brown. Her favourite as a kid. She sat on the seat, it was a little too high for the dining table but she ignored it.  
“You and Jughead can cook together now!” Polly said with wide eyes. It seemed like a sweet thing to say but Jughead knew she was mocking Betty.

“Any dishes I can help clean?” Jughead offered trying to change the subject.

“Jughead, it’s fine, you’re our guest, we’ll clean your plate.” Alice said quickly and Chic stood up collecting all the plates except for Betty’s. Jughead looked at her and knew by her body language that she felt uncomfortable.

“Well, I think I’ll be going now.” Jughead said.

“So soon? We’ve barely even caught up!’ Hal said as if he were his long lost son. Betty looked at Jughead and wanted to ask him to stay but nothing came out of her mouth.

“Yeah… I have a bunch of things to do before school. We’ll talk soon.” Jughead said assuringly.

“Well if you must.” Alice sighed. “Betty will keep us posted on you.” she continued and Betty pretended not to hear.

“Thank you Mr and Mrs Cooper for having me. I’ll see you soon” Jughead said as he walked to the door. He turned around to look at Betty and then hugged Chic and Polly goodbye.

Alice opened the window as Jughead was walking across the street. “Be safe!” she shouted and

Jughead waved. “I will! You too.”

“He’s so grown up now.” Hal said. And everyone nodded. As if Jughead was the only thing keeping them happy, Alice broke out and started telling off Betty for making a scene at twelve. She kept repeating poor Jughead, poor Jughead and Betty wanted to roll her eyes, she would have to thank him later somehow. Her head hurt even more and Betty ran over to the sink on the verge of more vomit. She stayed at home for the rest of the day mostly thinking about how to thank Jughead.

Jughead sat on his bed and thought about Betty, he was a bit hurt to hear that she didn’t tell her parents about him being back but he chose to forget it. It was almost eleven and he was getting tired, she must be awake he said to no one in particular. He took out his phone and looked at the number she gave him, was it her real one? Or was she just drunk and saying random numbers. He tried anyways, his fingers hovered over the keys. How are you? He stared at the words and then deleted it. Hey it’s Jughead, do you feel better? It felt weird so he deleted them as well. Hope you’re feeling better. - J. Just as he was about to delete his sentence for the third time, his thumb barely grazed the screen and clicked send. He burrowed his head in his hands in frustration.

Betty was just getting ready to sleep when her phone lit up from a notification, it said it was a message from an unknown number. She unlocked her phone and clicked on the app, opening the chat. She knew immediately after reading the ‘-J.’ that it was from Jughead. Betty wanted to reply but she didn’t know with what. Sighing, she turned off her phone and tried to go to sleep.

Read. Jughead stared at the screen for a bit longer before he knew she wasn’t going to reply, he felt dumb, she probably doesn’t even care about me he thought to himself. He struggled to sleep afterwards, thinking about all his favourite moments with her as a child. Will it ever be the same?

Throughout the week, Betty carried on ignoring Jughead like the weeks before, she knew she had to thank him for bringing her home but couldn’t find the right time to say it. On Monday when Archie came to pick her up, she didn’t talk for the whole ride, annoyed that he left her all alone to fend for herself. He talked about how much fun it was but never apologised, he didn’t even say where he went after the party.

Sometimes Betty caught Jughead looking at her, sometimes it was the other way round. She would watch how his fingers move on his keyboard and how he always played with his curl on the front of his head. Jughead knew a lot of the time that she was looking at him but he never turned around just to save her from the embarrassment. As children, she would tell him how she felt humiliated when people caught her doing weird things and he tried to be wary of that. Betty tried thanking him three times but she never ended up getting to it. Veronica was with her once and tried pushing her to him but Betty ended up moving at the last second and Veronica was sent to the nurse’s office after she fell on her ankle.

It was Friday, Betty was nervous about the turnout for the Blue and Gold’s first meeting, her eyes sparkled with anticipation. Just as she was about to leave her Spanish class, her teacher, Ms González told her to stay back. Betty wanted to tell her that she had a meeting but didn’t want to be disrespectful so she listened, it was something about a tutoring job for younger children.

“I’ve already asked a couple of my students from this year and the year below. Most have denied, right now I only have one student, I was hoping you’d say yes? It’s a paid job, you can both teach at the same time and split the money, and it’s good experience.” Ms González said eventually. Betty accepted the offer, her babysitting jobs have slowly gone down hill and she needed to earn some money. Ms González clapped her hands together out of joy and let her go, Betty smiled and quickly ran down the hallway to the Blue and Gold room.

“Thank you for waiting.” Betty said as she shut the door behind her. She turned around and the room was still dark. No, nobody showed up. She switched on the lights and jumped, startled at the figure sitting in the corner. Jughead slowly stood up, a smile forming on his face.

“No problem.” he said quietly.

“You’re the only one?” Betty asks. Deep down, she wants him to be the only one.

“Yeah… and you’re the one who put up the posters?” He says.

Betty nods. “I didn’t know you write.”

“Picked it up in my free time,” he replies. “I didn’t know you write.” he laughed quietly

Betty smiles. “Yeah, picked it up in my free time too.” They smile at each other, Jughead was quite surprised that she hadn’t already run away from him like previous occasions. The room is silent, outside, students are chatting in the hallways walking down to the cafeteria.

“Thank you, for Saturday.” Betty said after a while. He shakes his head. They are slowly walking closer to each other, the room still feels dusty even though Betty cleaned it almost every morning since school started.

“How did you get my number?” she asks.

Jughead chuckles thinking about that conversation. “You looked at the phone in your hand and said that it wasn’t yours because the wallpaper was ugly. I assured you that it was yours and then you told me your number and insisted I call it to make sure I wasn’t lying.”

Betty pressed her lips tighter together. “And you kept my number.” she stated.

Jughead nods. “Sorry.” She raises her eyebrows at him. “Yeah, I’m not really sorry.” he says.

“What else did I say?” Betty asks him  
“You wouldn’t want to know.” he says simply. Jughead remembered it all very clearly, he only had one drink and found it pointless to even be there. He was helping Jason pack up when Veronica called him pleading him to help take Betty home because Archie ditched her.

“I do. Tell me anything.” she said  
He put his finger to his chin and mimicked the thinking expression, Betty laughed at that. “Well, you told me I was a beautiful singer.” he said.

“You sung!?”

“We both did, actually.” Jughead said wanting to laugh because Betty turned red. “You said you’ve always wanted to sing acapella but nobody would do it with you.” He continued. Betty covered her face. “And, you said I looked like a pigeon. Then you pointed at one and screamed ‘pigeons are stunning animals gifted to us from God. They should not be on this cruel planet.’”

“Gosh, stop talking, I’ve heard enough. I’m never getting that drunk again.” Betty bubbled and they both laughed together, just like old times.

“Can we start again?” She blurts out when they finally get hold of themselves.

“Yeah I’d like that.” Jughead replies.

“I’m Betty Cooper.” she says

“Jughead Jones.”

She hugs him first and they stay like that for two or three minutes. She’s tearing up and he can feel the fabric on his shirt going wet.

“Betty, don’t cry” he says softly, moving his hand up and down along her back.

“Sorry, I just really missed you.” she sobbed. He put his finger to her jaw and gently pushes her head up, staring into her eyes. Jughead moves his thumb to her face and slowly wipes away her tears, he did the same before. Betty managed out a smile.

“I would have found you today anyways,” Jughead says “It’s been a month.” and Betty remembers the conversation they had on the first day of the year “I’ll wait a month, even two. You can’t push me away forever.”

They don’t talk much about the newspaper for the rest of lunch, mostly catching up on the three years they missed. Everything is almost where it left off. Betty and Jughead walked to history together and Veronica’s jaw drops at the sight of them next to each other.

After their talk on Friday, many things change. They talk a lot more for starters, in the morning, at lunch, sometimes they stay after school in the Blue and Gold room. Eventually they do start doing work, Betty read Jughead’s portfolio and Jughead read hers, they were both very impressed with one another after not showing any interest in writing as children. Jughead starts having dinner with the Cooper’s very often, every once in a while, they bake cakes and bring it to school.

Archie looks at Betty during lunch, he realises they haven’t been spending much time together and their last date was already three weeks ago. He pulls her onto his lap and she looks at him intently.

“I miss you” he says into her hair.

“Yeah? We see each other everyday.” Betty replies.

“It’s not the same,” Archie says shaking his head. “What about a date tonight? Not at Pop’s?” he asks.

“I can’t today, Arch. Cheer tryouts.”

“You were in last year, doesn’t that mean you have a sure spot on the squad?”

“Cheryl insists, V’s going.”

“Fine, what about afterwards?”

“I’ve made plans with Jughead, we’re making a cake for Chic’s birthday weekend.” she said after a pause.

“Jughead again?” it’s a question but sounds like a statement, Betty can tell he’s a bit annoyed. “Chic is leaving New York for a birthday celebration?” he asks and she pretends that she didn’t notice his sour expression to the mention of Jughead’s name.

“Yeah, and Polly.” Betty says excitedly. They both lived in New York which was a two hour plane ride from Riverdale. Chic is graduating from college this year and Polly is studying double majors in Law and Business studies. Betty knew going to New York is what her parents wanted but she didn’t have her heart settled on any school yet despite her mom’s constant nagging to apply to one early. Archie nods as he runs his fingers through his hair.

“I mean you can come if you like. We’ll be eating with mom and dad afterwards.” Betty says because she didn’t want to disclude Archie. He bites his lips, in the two and a half years of dating he’s only eaten with her parents once and now Jughead is back and he’s automatically joining dinner.

“Yeah I’d like that” he says nodding.

Betty looks at him in shock. “Sure. Dinner starts at quarter to eight, you can come right after cheer practice and help bake.” she suggests but she thinks he’s going to deny because every time she asks if he’d like to bake with her, he always declines.

“Definitely. I can drive you home.” he says proving her wrong

Betty’s smile is wide. “And Jughead as well.”

“Him too.” Archie says while taking her hands in his. Everyone is starting to walk to their classes and they stand up to follow the line out of the cafeteria.

“I love you.” Archie mutters as they are walking down the hallway. Betty looks up and kisses him on his cheek.

“Me too. I’ll see you after school.” she says and walks into her psychology classroom.


	5. iv

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of a filler and not much happens in this chapter, sorry ;) the chapter after this one is my favourite so far, I'll be posting that in a few days. Thanks to everyone that has read!

Betty's Pov

My heart sunk a little when the bell rung signalling that psychology class was over, we were just getting into the details of something interesting and now I’d have to wait till next week to find out more. The cheer tryouts seem kind of pointless, we’re almost two months into the school year and we’ve been practicing with the same team from last year so far. Everyone is rushing out of the classroom and I’m the last one left, Veronica walks in with a wide smile.

“Hey, why are you so happy?” I ask when we walk out.

“It’s cheer tryouts! Oh this is so exciting!” she replies joyfully. I nod, it doesn’t seem like that much fun to be, it’s us asking to be criticized by Cheryl. As if sensing my boredom, Veronica adds “It’ll be out on the field not an indoor tryout.”

“How do you know?” I say, suddenly interested. Outdoor practice was a lot more entertaining, Cheryl couldn’t watch all of us out there which meant there’s a greater leeway to do tricks and mess around.

“She sent us an email, B.” Veronica says. We walking into the changing room. Many new girls are already there changing into sports clothes, Veronica and I walk over to the corner where most of the squad is. We put on our cheer uniform, mine is getting a bit small since I’ve had it since the first year, it just barely covers my underwear. I look around at the other girls, their skirts are short as well and it makes me feel a bit better about mine. The new students leave the changing room eagerly and it’s just the original team left inside.

“I heard we’re all gonna do a routine for the newcomers” Midge says once they all left.

“Really? Which one?” Haylie, a sophomore who joined last year as a freshman, asked curiously. Midge shrugs and a few girls start talking about their favourite routines. Just as we walk out, Cheryl comes in and rolls her eyes.

“Guys! How can you be so late, hurry on. We’re doing a routine for the tryouts.” She says and I see Midge nudging Lauren. Haylie looks up at asks which one.

“You’ll see when we get there.” Cheryl replies with a flat tone as we step out onto the grass. She turns around to look at us. “The fourth of July football game, one” she says and a few girls squeal excitedly, Veronica included. The sky is grey and the grass is a bit wet, it must’ve been raining earlier, I can hear thunder from a distance and I’m sure the rest of the girls do because now they seem nervous. As if Cheryl doesn’t register the sound or scared expressions, she turns on her speakers and clap at us.

“Get into your places!” she barks and then she turns to the girls trying out and smiles sweetly. “Here’s just a preview of our summer routine.” and then she looks at the bleachers. It seems like football practice is cancelled, at least two dozen boys stand there watching us, Archie included. I feel a bit nervous now, the football team has never seen this routine because Cheryl choreographed it for another team when they asked us to perform for them, it was one of her best routines but there are so many tricks involved since she wanted to wow the other team. I try not to think about it, they have seen us at their own games anyways.

The music starts and in unison, we all start skipping and waving our pom poms left to right.We all start clapping together and tie our pom poms to our wrist, it was rehearsed so many times that everyone did it flawlessly. We get into two lines and half of us do a back tuck and the other half do aerials. We all land simultaneously and I think this must be our best run yet, the routine is almost over and I mentally prepare myself for the triangle tower. The first row gets down and the remaining girls continue waving our pom poms, then the second row climbs on top, then the third row climbs up and now only three of us are left. We do a front walkover and Veronica and Sadie leave to get on the triangle, I can see the first five people on the bottom row wobble slightly. I’m the only one left, I quickly do a roundoff backhandspring to the back, and I can feel the eyes watching me as I hurry up to the top.

We’ve practiced this so many times, yet I still need to bite back my scream every time as get up and glance over the edge. I smile and wave my pom poms before getting off my knees and balancing on my feet. I take a deep breath and lean forward, tucking in my legs and doing a somersault like trick. It feels correct, but if even the slightest bit was off then I might not be able to turn on time and break my neck. Thankfully I complete the turn to perfection and land on my two feet. The girls watching start to clap and I can hear cheers from the bleachers, I can feel myself beaming with pride. Eventually the song ends and we’re all in our finished positions. After posing for a few seconds, Cheryl stands up and wipes the mud off her knees and the rest of us walk off.

“Well, that was that. So now it’s time for the tryouts. We have three spaces on the squad.” she says and then turns to look at us. “If none of the girls here quit. Maybe we’ll also have two subs. So show me what you got! Line up.” she says to the newcomers. Relief swept through me when I realised we were already on the team, Veronica grabs my hand and we walk over to the front with the rest of the squad.

“Nice legs, ladies” a voice from behind us calls, we all turn around to see Reggie grinning. A bunch of boys are walking towards us, I can see Archie’s red hair in the distance. Jade, Lauren, Maya and Becca start laughing and talking flirtatiously. I barf on the inside. Archie comes up to me and wraps an arm around my waist, he sees Veronica and pulls her into a hug.

I look up at the bleachers and see Jughead staring at us, he gives me a warm smile and I mouth some words to him, telling him to come.

“Was football practice cancelled?” Veronica asks.

“Yeah, bad weather and all. Are we ready to go?” he replies. We both nod, a bunch of girls already left and Cheryl didn’t try to stop them so what’s the harm in leaving a bit early too?

“Okay well you guys have fun with Jughead as well. Smithers is waiting.” Veronica says

“Say hi to Smithers for me, V” I say when we hug. I watch her walk to the door and then turn back to face Archie.

“Let’s go, we’ll take my car.” he says nodding towards the door Veronica just went through.

“We have to wait for Jughead.” I say looking around, Jughead walks over slowly and Archie has moved next to me and is now holding my hand.

“There’s not enough space for the three of us.” Archie says, squeezing my hand gently.

“Yeah there is. At the back!” I reply quickly. Jughead shifts uncomfortably.

“Not for him.” Archie continues and I almost yell at him before Jughead cuts in.

“Betty, it’s fine. I can take my motorbike there. It’s parked nearby.” he says reassuringly

“Are you sure? We can make room for you in the car.” I say, scared that Archie upset him.

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll need it to go to school on Monday, anyways.” Jughead replies still not making eye contact with Archie.

“See? It’s fine, now let’s go” Archie says tugging on my arm. He starts walking away and I look at Jughead.

“That was great Betty, the pyramid and all.” Jughead said talking about my flip, I nod and say thank you before quickly jogging after Archie.

“I’ll see you there then? Let yourself in if you get there first.” I say turning my head to look at Jughead. He nods and smiles. I go back to the changing room and change out of my cheer uniform. Archie and I drive to my house in silence, he glances at me every now and then but I never turn to look at him. I’m not sure why I’m even annoyed, Jughead has his own way back.

We arrived and I could see Jughead’s bike parked outside our door, Archie’s car can’t fit through the driveway so we park on the street. I get out and walk to the door while he takes his bag from the back. I forgot my keys today so I ring the doorbell and within seconds, mom is at the door smiling widely.

“Betty! Jughead is already inside preparing. Come in, come in.” She says almost about to close the door. I turn around to look at Archie’s car, he’s still scrabbling around inside the car and mom follows my gaze.

“Did you invite someone else?” she asks.

I nod. “Archie. He’s also staying for dinner.” I say.

“Who-” and she stops because Archie is right by my side. She stares at him for a split second and then breaks out into a nervous smile. “Oh! Archie! What a pleasure to see you here.” she said chuckling.

Archie puts a hand around my waist. “Hi, Mrs Cooper.”

“I didn’t know you bake! We’ve heard a lot of nice things about you, and now we’re meeting officially!.” She says putting out a hand. Archie shakes it.

I clear my throat. “Mom, we had dinner together, like two years ago.” I say awkwardly. Archie nods, I can tell he feels out of place. “And you’ve seen him several times, he always picks me up.” I continue, feeling the need to defend him. Mom has always liked Jughead more, even when he was gone. When I first told her I was dating Archie, her eyes immediately went to a picture of Jughead, Chic and I that was still underneath the TV. When we were little, she told us that if we got married in the future, she’d be the happiest mother in the universe. At that time we laughed and thought she was joking but now that Jughead’s back it feels like she’s still clinging on to that hope.

“Yes, honey.” she replies and Archie squeezes my waist. She sighs and then signals for us to come in. Archie is the first to step through, he takes off his shoes and walks straight into the kitchen. Once he’s gone I look at my mom and she shrugs.

“You made him so uncomfortable!” I whisper-yell “You didn’t even tell him to call you Alice.”

“Could we talk about this later, we do want a cake for tomorrow.” she says.

The kitchen tables are already full with all the different ingredients, because we’re making it from scratch, there’s so much more to do and we’d need more time. We’re making a triple layered cake, I made some icing in advance because we wouldn’t have enough time to do that and the cakes all in a couple hours. The first layer would be a soft vanilla cake with strawberries, mangoes and whipped cream. The second layer is a cookies and cream cheese cake, originally it was supposed to be covered in a poured fondant icing which is a thick liquid but I made it wrong and it turned out like rolled fondant and has the texture of clay. Jughead told me to to fret over it because it would help sculpt the cake. The third layer would be a small-ish chocolate souffle, one of Chic’s favourite desserts, dripped on top would be melted chocolate.

I take the fondant icing and buttercream frosting out of the fridge to let it cool a bit. We both start making the first layer of cake, him cracking the eggs and me getting the sugar. Although we don’t talk much and move hurriedly, we’re in sync and cooperating really well, making good use of the time. We’ve been baking together since we were five, we always watched baking shows and hoped we could join one someday, at the time he liked cooking more so than baking but I insisted we do everything together so we both learnt a bit of each.

Archie sits on the dining table, his eyes wonder to us and then back to his phone screen, we’re ten minutes in and he already seems bored.

Jughead and I take turn mixing and preparing the oven and baking tray, I give him the bowl with the batter and he skillfully pours it into the circular tray and puts it in the oven. A cake of that size usually takes thirty minutes and so we move on. I carefully cut the strawberry into small pieces and Jughead is besides me doing the mangoes. I glance down at my watch and it’s already been half an hour. We put aside the fruits and start with the next layer, we slow down a bit and start talking. Jughead makes a joke and it’s so bad that I laugh, and he laughs too, Archie looks up from his phone and stares at us confused.

“Are you guys almost done?” Archie asks. Jughead chuckles and shakes his head.

“Not even close, the first layer isn’t even finished.” I say to him as I mix in the butter, sugar and flour, Jughead is next to me trying to melt the cream cheese and mix in the cookies together. He’s done before me and hands me his bowl.

“So how long does this usually take?” Archie says.

“Ummm, well with everything, maybe three hours?” I say and look at Jughead to see if he thinks differently.

“Yeah, give or take.” Jughead says to me, he turns to Archie. “It could be quicker if you helped.” he says. I raise my eyebrows in surprise but don’t say anything. Thankfully, Archie declines, it’s not that I don’t want him to help but he could possible ruin the cake for Chic if he did.

I get the whisk and start mixing the cream cheese with the rest of the mixture until it becomes one thick batter. I hand it to Jughead and he puts it in a round ovenproof glass bowl and places it in the oven, taking out the vanilla cake inside. He cuts in half horizontally and puts one half to the side, we use a knife and carve out a tiny bit of the cake to put in the whipped cream. He spreads the whipped cream inside and I put in the strawberry and mango pieces in decoratively. Jughead puts a bit more whipped cream before getting the other side of the cake and putting it on top.

I grin at his handiwork, the cake looks fluffy and feels dense so we know it’s made just right. Jughead takes the prepared buttercream frosting bowl and puts it between us.

“Should I put some of this in piping bags to decorate after we cover the cake?” I ask him. He looks down at the cake and blinks.

“Do you have food dye? Maybe we could colour it instead of having two white layers.” he suggests. I didn’t think about that and I nod approvingly. I go to one of the cupboards and take out the food dyes.

“I was just gonna say the same thing.” Archie says. “Chic doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to want a plain white cake anyways.” He continues. I put down all the dyes and they seem to be pretty new, none of it has been used yet.

“What colour should we do?” I say looking at both Archie and Jughead.

“Green.” “Red.” they say at the same time. I purse my lips.

“Why?” I ask

“It’ll look cool.” Archie says almost immediately. I look at Jughead who’s looking at Archie like he’s an alien.

Jughead stops looking at Archie and turns to face me. “Red because it’s Chic’s favourite colour and he’s always had a red cake for his birthday since he was little.” I smile glad that Jughead remembers this little detail. It’s hard to forget.

It was Chic’s ninth birthday, we were celebrating as a family, Jughead included. We were five and even then, my parent’s thought of him as their own son. Mom turned off the lights as she walked in with the cake, when she switched back on the lights Chic frowned. He said sadly that he wanted a red cake not a blue one, he said that he would always want a red one because it was the most ‘wonderfullest’ colour. He didn’t cry but he later told Jughead and I that he would next year if it was blue again.

“Red it is.” I say smiling at him and putting in a few drops.

“How do you know his favourite colour is red?” Archie said to Jughead as I mixed in the dye. Jughead repeated the story adding in that ever since then we would have to remind mom to get a red cake.

Archie nods at the story. “How long have you known each other, I thought you were new?” he asked. Jughead stopped moving his arms for two seconds and looked at me, surprised. At that moment, mom walks into the kitchen with the same wide smile as earlier.

“How is it going… What are we talking about?” She said to all three of us.

Archie coughed. “Just, how long Betty and Jughead have known each other.” he said

“Ah yes, they did everything together.” she said before I could stop her.

“Oh… I had no idea they knew each other before this school year.” Archie said staring coldly at Jughead. Jughead started putting some of the frosting into a piping bag and he handed it to me.

“Archie, we’ve been friends since we were four.” He said as he took the remaining frosting and started spreading it on the cake.

“Really. Betty has never told me.” Archie said replying quickly, he was expecting some sort of reaction from Jughead but I already told him that I never told Archie about him so it wasn’t really news to Jughead. Mom stared at them bickering and clapped her hands together.

“Less talking, more baking.” she said to me. I nodded and started making patterns with the icing bag. Mom stood there watching us work until the oven went off signaling that the second layer was done. I rolled out the fondant into a circle and Jughead helped me press it down.

“Can we talk for a second, Betty?” Archie said.

“Yeah, go ahead.” I reply after a second. Jughead and I lift the second layer and carefully put it on top of the first cake.

“Maybe in private?” He says looking at Jughead.

I stare blankly at him while I weigh out the ingredients for the glace icing which would just be a finishing touch. “We’re a bit busy at the moment, can’t you tell? Whatever you have to say can be said here.” I reply. Jughead walks away to the sink and pretends not to hear the conversation. I start mixing the water and icing sugar and I glance up at Archie expecting him to speak.

“I don’t think it’s great that you’re spending so much time with Jughead.” he says whispering across the table. My head jerked up, why would he even say that to me?

“Why?” I say looking back at my bowl and getting a spoon to test out the consistency of the icing.

“Because, it’s weird, uncanny.” he replies, his voice still low. I know even though Jughead is in the corner that he can still hear us.

“Do you even know what uncanny means? I ask, he doesn’t reply and I chuckle. “No, so what do you want me to do?”

“Stop talking to him, you spend more time with him than you do with me. I was fine with it earlier because I thought you were just trying to be nice to the new weird kid, and then I find out that you’ve been friends since you were tiny kids! It’s obvious your mom prefers Jughead over me.” He says

I scoff. “I’m not gonna stop talking to Jughead just because you have doubts about our friendship.” I walk away to get some cling wrap and then I wrap the bowl of icing and put it in the fridge.

Jughead walks over to our table. “I know it’s none of my business bu-”

“It’s not.” Archie shoots back interrupting Jughead.

“But Betty and I are just friends and we always have been.” he continues. “I swear, I’m not trying to ‘steal your girl’” he says lifting up his fingers and making little quotation marks to imitate Archie, I laugh quietly at that. Jughead cracks the eggs and hands me the bowl so that I can separate the egg whites and yolks. Souffle is meant to be a challenging dessert to make but Jughead and I have made it more than ten times with different flavours and recipes, I can make it off by heart now and I think Jughead can too.

“I don’t care what you have to say, Jughead.” Archie said emphasizing the Jug in his name.

“Archie!” I warn. He takes my arm and pulls me outside, there aren’t any doors so I know Jughead can still hear us from inside there.

“There’s something with him. I can feel it and I don’t like it. Maybe you’re just too oblivious to see it at the moment.” Archie says.

“Arch, there’s nothing wrong with him, I don’t get why you’re making such a fuss out of this. Maybe you should go home and get some rest, I think baking is getting to you.” I say, I’m a bit furious that he had the audacity to ask me to stop talking to Jughead but at this point I just want him out of the house. He nods, rolling his eyes and leaves the house without turning back, I watch his car drive away and sigh.

The cake is finished before seven and Jughead and I quickly make pasta and steak for dinner. Mom seems a bit lighter without Archie here and she jokes casually with Jughead about us getting married. Chic’s party the next day is great and he loves the cake, Jughead stays overnight for the party and it’s almost like when we were little. I go to sleep thinking about the conversation we had with my mom during the party.

“So Jughead, maybe you want to come and bake more? This tastes lovely.” she had said.

Jughead nodded. “Of course! If I’m welcomed. I love this family.”

“Good because we love you, you should just move in with us!” she joked and it reminded me of when we were 4 and I just became friends with Jughead and she insisted he stayed with us whenever he needed to. She even changed the storage room to a room for him, with new clothes and everything but most of the time he would pull out a mattress from underneath my bed and sleep in my room.

Jughead must have been thinking the same thing. “Just like when I was four.” he said smiling at her. Mom would never be the same with any other boy in my life, she never really approved of me with Archie and I didn’t really know why but I figured then that it was because she still wished it was Jughead.

Ever since we became friends, Jughead and I spent every free moment with each other. I was with him more than I was with Polly or Chic, who were my siblings, but I guess Jughead was basically like another brother as well. He understood me, it was like he knew me before we even started talking. Our friendship meant more to me than he’d ever know, he was a part of me, even if he didn’t want to do something, he would do it because I wanted to. He was never impatient with me and we rarely got into arguments, on days I didn’t want to talk then he’d take out a book and we’d read it silently together. When I first watched Masterchef, I became obsessed with cooking and did it almost everyday but Jughead didn’t complain that I’d ignore him, he learned with me and we quickly had an easy partnership.

I rubbed my eyes and sighed, every time I try to sleep I think of Jughead. I walk over to my wardrobe and push away a few old clothes to reveal a tin box that I haven’t opened in at least a year. I bring it back to my bed, sitting cross legged, I open the box and look at the familiar things. A blue charmed bracelet Chic got me after he dropped one of my books in the toilet bowl. My first (and worst) report card from grade 3. My favourite picture of Jughead, Chic and I. ‘Fairy dust’ my mom surprised me with on my 6th birthday. Shells from the first time Jughead and I went to the beach. All of his letters to me after he left. I take one out and recognize it as the fourth one I got.

I turned on the reading lamp and unfolded the letter, reading it.

 

_Dear Betty,_

_I miss you. I start my letter like this every time but it never gets any easier or mean less. I went to an interview, dad said I had to do well because this was the only public school nearby. He doesn’t even care if it’s good or not. Mom has only been home for at most 3 hours this entire week, drunk. Jelly cries a lot when she isn’t here, I don’t know how to take care of a 2 year old! You were always the one that was better with babies. It’s been five months. Since we became friends, we haven’t left each other’s side for that long, or for even a week, which makes this even harder. I cooked dinner, the fried spaghetti thing we liked to make, it’s so much more work without you with me. I saw another girl on the street, she had a three scoops ice cream and it was melting all over her hand, I immediately thought of you. That happens often, I see things and I think, Betty would laugh at this. Or, I must tell Betty. It used to work when I lived from walking distance to your house, I could just run there and tell you and then go home. Thank you for the picture of you, Chic and me. I look at it every day before I sleep, I wish your parents and Polly were also in the photo. It’s getting late, I’m mailing this first thing tomorrow and I’ll be waiting for your message! Hopefully this gets to you soon because I’m not sure if I can read your old letters again without reciting it off by heart afterwards._

_Miss you and love you so much, Juggie. 06/08_

 

I remember when I got that letter, it was a week after he wrote it, mom bought it in when she was coming through the door after work. I smiled gleefully at her before I took it and ran upstairs to my room and read it. I read it over and over again until she said it was time for dinner. That same night, I wrote my reply, with the purple pen Jughead had given me. Letters took forever to send unless you paid extra money and mom said that Jughead would be able to wait. I look into the box and start ordering all his letters by the date he wrote them, there were 34 in total and I kept all of them. Some were creased on the edges but otherwise in perfect condition. I wonder if Jughead kept the letters I sent, even if he did, he probably didn’t bring them back to Riverdale.


	6. v

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jughead's birthday!! They start to get somewhere in this chapter, the one after this is my favourite one so far though. S

After what Archie said a couple of days ago, Jughead tried to take a step back and not hang around her all the time, but she insisted that they had a lot of work to do and it didn’t matter what Archie said. Half of it was true, they were getting pretty busy. The school newspaper started getting more popular as the weeks went by and Mr Weatherbee increased the budget so they could print more, they’ve almost tripled the amount of copies they had at the start. The second part was false, maybe to Jughead at least. It did matter that Archie thought he was spending too much time with his girlfriend but he was contented when Betty told him to forget about Archie and that it was her own decision.

Jughead walked into the Blue and Gold room and was surprised to find that the lights were all off. He glanced down at his watch, Betty usually arrived at school earlier than him but he showed up at the same time as usual. He turned on the lights and jumped when he saw balloons all over the floor, he picked one up and looked at it curiously.

“Wha-” he started before Betty jumped out of the corner, her face beaming.

“Surprise!” her hands shot up and she walked excitedly towards Jughead. Jughead looked at her with a blank expression.

“This is a surprise. What’s the occasion?” he put the balloon he was holding down on the table and looked around the room. The whole room was covered with balloons and on the chalkboard in Betty’s curly bubble writing, wrote two words. She pulled him into a hug.

“Happy Birthday!” When there was no response, she pulled away and looked at him, puzzled.

“It’s not my birthday.” he replied and Betty’s expression turned from excitement to confusion.

“It definitely is.” she turned on her phone and showed him the date. “October second.” she stated.

Jughead laughed lightly. “Oh, it is my birthday. I haven’t really celebrated it since I left Riverdale, your parents were the ones that threw me a party with gifts and all.”

“You haven’t gotten a birthday present since you left?” Betty sighed. “Now I wish I did more.” she said, looking around at her now not so lovely surprise.

It was his turn to pull her into a hug. “No, no, this is more than enough, Betts. I’m happy with the fact alone that you remembered my birthday.” Betty smiled against his jacket. He put down his bag on a table and Betty gave him a pair of scissors.

“Hurry up. The balloons won’t pop themselves.” she said picking one up.

Jughead held the scissors “Why would I pop them. Also someone outside will hear.”

“Not if you do it like this.” Betty said as she took it from his hands and demonstrated. Her fingers went around the unblown up bit and she pulled it before cutting the balloon. She didn’t lie, the balloon didn’t pop loudly, instead it deflated with barely any sound. “There’s a note inside all of them. It’ll be weird if I stand here while you read it so see you at attendance. Meet me here at lunch!” Betty said as she pointed at the chalkboard and walked out the door with a smile. The board had a key on it with white boxes coloured in, red meant ‘something I like about you’, blue was a ‘good memory’, white was ‘old promises’ and purple was ‘things we have to do in the future’ Jughead picked up the deflated balloon, he put his fingers inside and felt a crumpled piece of paper. He unfolded it and looked at her small cursive handwriting, it was blue and he looked back at the board to remind himself what it meant.

_We were 7, the skating rink just opened and even though you insisted we go to the indoor one, I dragged you to the new one, made from the natural icy environment. It was snowing and you laughed when I complained that the snowflakes were falling on my eyelashes. We almost didn’t go, you didn’t have too much money on you and you were too modest to ask me or my mom for some more. I went in without you, thinking you’d be coming in after me but you didn’t, I shoved the money in your hands and I remember saying, “I don’t want to have a fun without you, I’m not sure I can.” It sounds dumb when I write it down now but it was always true._

Jughead smiled, if all the blue papers were like this then his jaw might start to hurt from all the smiling eventually. He tried to cut another balloon the way Betty did it, it wasn’t as silent as she’d done it but it was quiet enough for there not to be any complaints. It was red and he looked at the board to check.

 _Very, very patient._ With doodles all around it. He folded it back up and put it next to the other letter.

White. _“If neither of us are married by the time we’re 30, we’ll get married to each other.” -Jughead Jones iii_

White. _“There are too many why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road jokes. Why would I know the answer to all of them?” obviously Jughead Jones iii _

Purple. _Hot air balloon._

White. _“Don’t worry about what they think, they don’t do it very often.” -Betty Cooper_

Blue. _The carnival was set up every year for only a month. You found a way to sneak in and we did almost every day. For four years. Our money was usually spent on cotton candy, you always got the blue and one I always got pink. Once, it barely touched your curl but it still got caught in the cotton candy, I laughed, so much while trying to help you get it out. You threatened to put my hair in the cotton candy and I still didn’t stop, so you actually did it. I got mad and you quickly apologised and then I felt guilty for laughing because you didn’t. You won me a stuffed bear once, I pointed at it the week before and said it was cute and one day you dragged me there even though we planned to do homework, and we used all the money on that one game. We laughed all the way home and I tried to give it to you but you said you got it for me (I still have it in a box underneath my vanity). You got in trouble the next day at school, for not doing the homework, you actually left it at my house and I did both mine and yours so that you wouldn’t get told off but you said that they would be able to tell so you didn’t accept it. We went home together as per usual and you didn’t even mention the homework thing, if roles were reversed, I wouldn’t stop talking about it._

Red. _Amazing writer, really good with words._

Purple. _Swim with pigs in Exuma, the Bahamas._

White. _“This, is the best day of my life.” -Jughead Jones iii. The day we had five scoops of ice cream each because the ice cream truck added more flavors._

Red. _Humble and thoughtful_.

Blue. _When we first met I took your scarf and said that I’d finish sewing it for you. I barely knew how to sew let alone make a scarf but I brought it to my gran’s house one weekend and she taught me. You already know that part and you probably remember the part where I finished it and showed you. You were grateful, I knew, but it was hardly any better than what your mom did and I was embarrassed. So I tried harder to make you one, my excuse was that it was a Christmas present but really I just wanted to impress you so that you’d be proud to wear it next year. I look back at the pictures now and realise how ugly all my scarves look but you still wore them with a smile just to make me happy, I suppose._

Jughead re read that note and suddenly wished she was still in the room so that he could tell her that the scarves were beautiful and kept him warm and that he loved them. He never knew the reason why she always gave it to him, he guessed it was just because it was her hobby. Anything that she’d make him, he would wear because he knew that she always put in so much effort into it. The bell rung and he knew he’d have to get to attendance in five minutes. There were 18 balloons to begin with, for his turning 18, he already read twelve. Jughead quickly started cutting them all and putting the unread ones in his pocket, the ones that he did read he slipped in his wallet. He threw all rubber and scraps in the bin before rushing to his main room, Betty was already gone by the time he got there, Mr Moyes was the only one inside.

Mr Moyes smiles “Jughead! I hear it’s your birthday.” Jughead nodded and returned the smile. “Here have some chocolate, I’m normally more prepared but nobody told me. Betty said so on her way out.” he held out a chocolate bar. Jughead started walking out the door

“Thanks, you know I’m a sucker for food.”

“Have a nice day!” Mr Moyes called behind him. Jughead got to his Spanish lesson and he felt himself daydreaming more than listening. Ms González was talking about preparing for the mocks and all the assignments and Jughead thought about all his past birthdays. The first birthday he could remember was his fourth, Fp picked him up from school, something he did very rarely and he brought Jughead to Pops. Normally Jughead would have to share a burger with his dad but on that day, he let him have a full meal to himself. There was no real present, his parents couldn’t afford it and little did he know then that the gift would come around Christmas when he’d meet Betty Cooper. All the years after that was full of parties and gifts, still not from his parents but Betty’s family. He’d spend his actual birthday with his parents but then the day after, he’d go to Betty’s house and celebrate it again. There was cake, a lot of it, every year and all the gifts were thoughtful and made Jughead want to cry because her family treated him so well. When he left it was back to nothing exciting for his birthday, when the day came, his parents didn’t even bring it up. Betty sent presents for the first three years, of course she stopped the year he didn’t send back a message.

Betty waited in the Blue and Gold office at lunch, his present was hidden in her bag and she was starting to get nervous from the anticipation. He showed up around ten minutes after her, with the same moody face but the tip of his lips curled just slightly at the sight of her face. He took out all the notes from the balloons slowly and Betty started going red, thinking it was just a dumb idea, all of those ideas went away when he put the last one down and wrapped his arms around her. Jughead read the remaining ones on his way to the office, hence the reason he took so long, he knew Betty would act shy about it so he made the first move by hugging her.

“Thanks, Betts. I loved reading it, I wasn’t aware that you kept track of the strange things I said as a kid.”

Betty laughed. “I’m glad you don’t think it’s too cheesy.” She moved out of his arms and went to her bag. “Here.” she said handing him the box. “It’s your actual present.”

He stared down at the gift and grimaced. “A tablet? No, this is too much. Please tell me you’re joking.”

“It’s an Ipad pro! You can use it like a computer, it comes with a keyboard.” Betty pointed at the image on the box.

Jughead shook his head “I can’t accept this.”

Betty shoved the box back into his hands “Why not? I missed three birthdays, my parents chipped in as well.”

“Betty… now I feel even worse that your parents als-”

“No, I got it for you, so you’re gonna have to keep it. Besides you’ll need it for the internship today.” she said suddenly smiling.

Jughead put the box down on the table “Internship? What internship.” Betty locked her hands together

“Rosie, someone I’ve been interning for, read my works and stuff and she liked it. I put in a good word for you and she said she’d meet you, she’s really excited about it actually.” “

I didn’t know you had an internship.” Jughead said, still confused with a clueless expression on his face.

“Where did you think I went every Monday and Wednesday afternoon?” She asked.

He shrugged “I don’t know, I always assumed it was cheerleading practice or something.”

Betty bit back a laugh. “And on Sunday morning?”

“Archie? I didn’t want to be nosy and if you wanted me to know, you would tell me.”

“Okay… add that to the list of things I like about you. Anyways back to the internship. I suppose you’re free today right, it’ll only be two hours and then you can go home to your dad.”

“Are you sure… Rose wa-”

“Rosie.” Betty interrupted.

“ _Rosie_ , was serious about the opportunity?”

“Super sure. I’ve been interning for Sweet-river Com for two years and she’s never said anything she doesn’t mean.”

Jughead looked at her and was making the decision in his head, there was no good reason to turn down the offer. Yet he still said “I don’t know…” Betty sighed desperately and gave her best puppy eyes.

“Come on, Jug. I know you’re writing a novel, I’m not blind. And this internship will really help, you can show it to the other editors there and your novel can come to life. Just give it a shot, I’ll be there with you and they will definitely be interested because I’ve never suggested anyone before.”

He was considering it, it would be great experience and Betty did get him an ipad just for this. He nodded. “Okay, I’m in. Only because I feel extremely guilty about the whole Ipad thing. I’m already in debt for so many other things you and your family have given me, Betts.”

Betty squealed happily and hugged him tight. “Yes! Juggie! This will be so exciting! And don’t talk about the Ipad like that, my family is yours, what matters most is that you like it.”

Jughead could barely move in her grip but he managed to nod against her shoulder. Betty talked all about the company for the whole of Biology and Jughead nodded for the most of it. When they got out of school, Betty called a cab, Jughead looked over at his motorbike but decided not to mention it because she was so excited and he didn’t want to delay it. She paid the driver and they both got out, Jughead looked up at the skyscraper in front of him. There were very few in Riverdale, just along the very edge and it was sort of like a really small and less eventful New York, the shopping malls were around this area and the higher paying jobs were here as well. It was closer to Greendale’s center than Riverdale but most people at school would drive here just for fun, either this or Pops.

Jughead’s frown was evident. Betty stood closer to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nerves. What if they all say my writing is terrible?” he replied

“Your writing isn’t bad. You can’t live in denial forever anyways!” Betty held his arm and lead him to the door. The inside of the building was fancy and Jughead couldn’t imagine how many people worked here, to Jughead, it was one of the biggest entrances he’d ever been in. They got on the lift to the 26th floor and Jughead started to fiddle with his beanie, when they arrived he examined the office.

It didn’t look like one, not at all. There were little restaurant booths right in the middle, besides the windows there were wooden swings that hang from the ceiling. Magazines after magazines stacked on top of each other on the floor next to an almost empty bookshelf. In big letters at the front desk; Sweet-river Communications. Jughead read their tabloids in Chester, they were very popular in the convenient store close by, he never guessed that it was a local company in Riverdale even though the name gave it away. He’d also seen their website online, in the ‘about’ section it said the company started off as a small business but then gradually got more editors and just moved up the entertainment ladder. He knew they wrote all five main types of journalism; News, investigative, columns, reviews, and feature writing. Jughead started to feel a little intimidated by the success of the company but he knew this would be a good opportunity for a possible freelance writing career . A few people noticed Betty and they waved at each other enthusiastically, she walked around the corner and peeped through a glass wall before turning back to Jughead.

“She’s not here, she said she would be…” and then she walked back out to the reception. “Hey Marley, do you know where Rosie is?” The woman sitting in front of her looked like she was in her early forties, she had a butterfly clip in her prim and perfect hair, it was even neater than Betty’s ponytail and Jughead wondered how she got it like that. A sound of chunky heels neared them and Marley pointed behind, the woman handed her cup of coffee to what seemed like her assistant and hugged Betty.

The two of them started swaying around and Jughead stood besides them awkwardly. Rosie pulled away and studied Jughead, she started from his beanie and didn’t say a word.

“Rosie… this is Jughead. Jughead, meet Rosie.” Betty said, Jughead’s arm was now behind her back and she knew he was feeling nervous. Rosie smiled sweetly

“Yes, yes. I’ve heard so much about you, Jughead.” When Betty explained this Rosie person, he pictured her differently, more like Marley. But the woman in front of him was almost the opposite, probably only thirty, but looked much younger with makeup covering every bit of her face. She had a mix of frizzy and curly, strawberry blonde (more strawberry than blonde) hair. She wasn’t tall, maybe 5 centimeters shorter than Betty and she was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit. Rosie offered her hand and Jughead shook it, he felt her brush her thumb along his knuckle and found it very strange but decided he was just imagining things.

“Shall we go to my office so we can review your work and talk a little bit about you?” Rosie said, already walking towards her office. Jughead and Betty followed her and she stopped in front of her door. “Betty, why don’t you go and finish off the little article from Monday, maybe you want to find Judy and the rest of them?” Rosie asked but to Jughead it sounded more like a demand.

Betty was oblivious. “Okay! Find me when you’re done.” she said to Jughead with an assuring smile before turning back down the hallway.

He watched as she disappeared from his sight and then turned back to face Rosie who was already pulling out a chair for Jughead by her desk. She sat down and looked at Jughead, she said she’d need to interview him and he nodded, she then proceeded to ask some of the most random questions.

“What’s your favorite food?” _Pop’s burger_.

“What’s your outfit inspo, gurlll?” _Ummm, not sure_.

“How do you like your eggs?” _Poached?_ And many more, the only question that made sense was “How long have you been writing?” which Rosie didn’t even let him respond to because she was already talking over him. She explained how things worked around there as an intern and that it was unpaid unless you wrote a great article which boosted ratings. She laughed a lot and touched his hand, she even leaned in to get closer to Jughead and he felt weirded out. He didn’t make much eye contact, it made him uncomfortable the way she looked at him and he found himself looking at the wall behind. There were small photos hung up everywhere, the beach, a theme park. On her desk there was a small photo frame, Jughead couldn’t really see the picture from where he was sitting but knew it was a picture of her and someone else, maybe her sister. Rosie put her hands on top of his

“Okay so do you want to show me one of your works? I can see where you’re at, give you some roles in the company and you can start interning.”

“Uh, yeah.” he said pulling away and taking his hp out of his bag. “Sorry, it could take a while to load.” Jughead said about his computer, he hadn’t taken Betty’s gift out of the box yet which could’ve saved him some time now, the laptop he was using was probably third handed from a friend to his uncle to him and he’d had it for three years. He put the laptop on the desk and looked at the screen as it was turning on, wishing it would go a little faster.

“Well, while that is turning on, why don’t we chat.” Rosie suggested. “What do you think about a little welcoming dinner. Maybe on Friday?”

Jughead tried not to look confused and quickly searched his brain for something to say. “With everyone? I’m not sure about that, I haven’t met anyone else yet and I’m not really a sociable person.”

‘Oh! No, no, Jug,” Jughead wanted to raise his eyebrow at her for calling him that, they didn’t even know each other twenty minutes ago. “Just the two of us.” she said sweetly. He looked at her waiting for her to say that she was just joking, it never came. His laptop finally turned on and he sighed thankfully as he typed in his password, focusing on the screen because he knew that Rosie was looking at him. He opened up the novel he was working on, a teenager murder with a hint of romance fiction. Jughead wasn’t extremely happy with it yet, he wasn’t even halfway done but he showed Rosie anyways. She read it from the start and Jughead watched her face as she skimmed over the text, it didn’t even seem like she cared and he wished Betty were here so that he could ask her why she idolises her so much. She looked bored scrolling through and Jughead wanted to snatch the computer away. He sat on his fingers and kept his mouth shut while she started dramatically nodding.

“Well, this. This is good! You’ll be a great addition to the company. First I’ll have to go through with Looney-Luna ‘cause she said so and then we’ll get you in.” Rosie shut the screen. Jughead wanted to ask her about the nickname but didn’t even feel like saying anything to her. Rosie knocked her fingers on the desk and started wincing in pain, Jughead wanted to laugh but held it back. Rosie quickly dialed her desk phone and started yelling at someone called Alice or Alissa. Within seconds a soft knock came behind the door before a woman was in front of them with her head bowed. It was the same person that Rosie gave her coffee to earlier and Jughead realised that this was her assistant. The lady trotted over closer to Rosie but still didn’t speak.

“What did I say about the desk, Alice!?’ she screamed and Jughead flinched. “Softwood. I told you to find softwood! This desk ruins my hand.” Rosie lifted up her knuckles to Alice’s face. “Do you see that? I told you about the softwood desk a week ago and you still haven’t done anything.”

Alice slowly lifted her head “Sorry, miss. Softwood isn’t much different from hardwood, they just come from different trees. Hardwood is typically more expensive and you told me you wanted high-quality furniture because... ”

"Because what!" Rosie snapped back

"You said you weren't a pig." Alice squeaked

Rosie shot her a furious glare and Jughead felt sorry for Alice. “Do not speak back to me! I don’t care what I’ve said before, find Alex and tell him to do my shopping from now on, ask him to come here, at this moment.” she cried with a stomp of her foot.

“Alex took a day off to take care of his sick child, I could ask Marley.” Alice was back to looking at her feet. Rosie screamed in irritation

“No. Whatever, you’re useless. Go, I don’t need you here anymore.” Alice nodded before rushing out of the room. Jughead gave his most sorry look to her as she walked past the window and she gave a somewhat apologetic look in return. Rosie brushed her front hair to the side before sitting down with a big smile.

“Anyways…” she started. “The dinner?”

If Jughead didn’t want to go ten minutes ago, he didn’t want to even more now after seeing her little hissy fit. “I don’t think so. It’s too soon.”

Rosie grabbed his hand again and started rubbing it, when she realised what she was doing she paused for a quick second but still didn’t remove the touch. “Why don’t you think about it? And tell me when you’re here on Sunday? With Betty, that’s when she comes.” she said insistently. He nodded just to get her off his back and he stood up.

“Maybe I’ll go find Betty now.” Jughead picked the laptop up and started walking towards the door. Rosie nodded and told him to give his contact details to Marley on his way out Jughead found Betty laughing with a bunch of other colleagues, all sitting around one large glass table in a room at the end of the hallway. He passed by many smaller offices on his way, there were some big shots, he could tell by their names engraved onto some metal tag and how the door was always closed. Then there were also slightly bigger rooms with tiny desks and many people hunched over their laptops, magazines once again all over the floor. He watched Betty talk with a confident voice and everyone around her with wide eyes, listening intently, she fit in so well even though half the people she was talking to seemed to be double her age. They all dispersed when a tiny woman in heels, wearing a tie, walked past and barked something at them. Betty smiled when she saw Jughead and she quickly jogged over to him.

Betty put her hands on her hips. “So… what did Rosie say?”

“Not a lot, I’m not sure if she’s okay with me.” Jughead replied, choosing his words very carefully.

A frown appeared on her face “Oh. but she made you sign the contracts right?”

“Yeah, well she told me to find Marley.”

“Okay, that’s fine… if she doesn’t like you, there are still other editors here, like Judy and Mirren and Max… and yeah! I’ll introduce you, they just weren’t available today.” And Jughead sighed in relief that Rosie wasn’t his only option.

“So you’re done right? I’m not really needed here, maybe I’ll stay for an extra half hour so I don’t feel bad about not doing the two hours. Do you wanna come to my place? My parents want to wish you a happy birthday.” Betty said casually as she walked over to her own desk. Jughead looked at her desk, notebooks placed neatly in a row, all labelled. Pens sorted out by colour and also type, her fluffy pens were separated from the rest of them. She had two pictures on her desk, one with Veronica and one of her and Jughead. He picked up the photo frame and tilted his head. The picture was on Betty hanging upside down from one of the trees right outside her house and Jughead was sitting cautiously besides her with a lopsided smile. They were probably seven or so and Jughead dared Betty to climb the tree, she did it but as soon as she got up, she was scared and he climbed up to her. He showed her a few tricks on the tree and she knew it was dangerous but had enough courage to try it as well. Alice came out tell them that the cookies were done and found them both hanging upside down, Jughead immediately sat up straight but Betty just laughed and waved. The picture was of Betty mid-giggle and Jughead about to help Betty get back up.

He was so lost in the photo that he forgot about Betty’s question and she thought he just didn’t want to go. “I mean… if you want, if you don’t then I can just tell my parents you’re busy… or something” Betty said disappointedly.

“What? Oh- oh your house, I do want to go, I’d never decline seeing your parents, even for only a couple minutes.” Jughead said and Betty smiled up at him.

“Finish your work first, I’ll just wait silently over…” he looked around the room and saw a wooden chair in the middle of the main room. “Over there.” he pointed at it.

“Oh, no, Juggie! That’s the naughty chair, if someone eats all the food in the pantry or whatever they have to sit there. Just pull out a chair from the other room, a rolly one, all the wooden chairs are for time outs.” Betty called to him as she started rapidly typing. Jughead head out to the corridor and walked towards the chair, a few people raised their eyebrows at him, someone he didn’t even see earlier asked him what he did wrong. Jughead chuckled as he went to find a different one, he rolled the chair back next to Betty’s desk but her eyes didn’t leave the screen and Jughead stayed quiet to not disturb her. They left half an hour later, as Betty said and walked home. There was a pretty sunset and Betty pointed at everything she thought was beautiful, the way the light hit the lamppost, the fallen leaves next to a squirrel. It was a long walk but Jughead could listen to Betty talk for hours and never get bored.

When they arrived at her house, almost an hour later, the lights were all off. It was very unlike the Cooper house because someone, at least one person would be home at this time. They got in and something popped in the kitchen, Jughead almost jumped but walked in first courageously, Betty trailing behind him.

“Surprise!” Alice was holding a confetti bomb, colourful papers were flying everywhere. Hal laughed and suddenly all the rooms in the house were on. Fp walked out from behind the fridge with a wide smile, he looked a bit tipsy but Jughead ignored that. “

Happy birthday, boy.” He pat him on the shoulder and squeezed him tight. Alice and Hal were next and they gave him a nice and warm hug, he could feel Alice smiling against his beanie. Chic knocked on the kitchen counter and Jughead’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Chic! I thought you left two days ago, for school.” Jughead said midst high five. Chic shook his head and closed his eyes.

“Nah, that was Polly, I was going to but how could I miss my basically brother’s birthday after six years.” Betty took out the cake from the fridge, it wasn’t as extravagant as the one she and Jughead made for Chic but she was still proud of it, considering she did it herself. It had two layers, a strawberry cheesecake bottom and funfetti cake on top, Jughead’s favorite ice cream flavors when they were kids. Betty sang happy birthday to him, with different voices like how he used to sing it for her, everyone laughed at that. There were 5 candles but one of them already went out and had no fire, still Jughead nodded assuringly, telling her he didn’t mind at all. Alice clapped her hands together and picked up her phone to take a picture. She told them to smile and after that, she insisted they had a candid photo as well, little did Betty know that it would be her new favorite picture.

“Thanks, Betts.” Jughead said against her ear. Everyone was standing around the kitchen counter, the cake on the table and Betty by his side. She nodded and turned to face him.

“Come on, make a wish, the candles won’t last forever.” Jughead smiled at her and shut his eyes and everyone watched, like they were waiting for some brain transmission of Jughead’s wish. He opened his eyes and blew them out and Fp cheered.

“What’d you wish for?” Chic said as Betty went to get a knife, Alice found plates and Hal and Fp washed their hands. Jughead looked over at Betty, maybe it was obvious to Chic and maybe it wasn’t, if Chic figured, he didn’t say anything about it.

“I can’t tell you, or it won’t come true.” Jughead replied with a smile and Chic nodded slowly.

The night ended with Hal taking Chic to the airport, Betty sending Fp and Jughead back home on a taxi and Alice one drink away from being drunk. It was eventful, Jughead felt that this was the best birthday he’d had in a while, probably because of Betty but he didn’t want to credit just her. He set up the ipad when they got home, Fp was more intrigued than he was but it was still cool and more advanced than any of the technology they had at home or could afford.

Sunday rolled around and Jughead knocked on the door at 9 o'clock on the dot. Betty told him it would take an hour or so to walk to the office so he had to show up early, he was reluctant at first because Sundays were for sleeping in but he didn’t tell her that. Betty grabbed her purse and took a bite out of her apple as she got the door, Jughead stood in front of her with the usual flannel around the waist and a bit too baggy trousers. He looked at her, her eyes were wide and green with flecks of gold reflecting from the sunlight, her hair wasn’t in it’s usual tight ponytail though it looked like it was earlier by the obvious bump that remain. She gave him a tight smile before saying bye into the house, a small voice replied but Betty already shut the door. Jughead stared down at the flowers in his hand, he got it from the little flower shop by the newspaper stand on his way over, they were on sale probably because they weren’t fresh but he didn’t know and she wouldn’t care he thought when he got a small bundle of daisies.

“Here, I got them for you.” Betty took them from his hands and looked at him curiously. “They remind me of your eyes.” He blurted softly.

“My eyes are green…”

“You’re missing the point.” They walked in silence until the both of them burst out laughing at the same time.

Jughead took one of the daisies and put it in her hair. “Why are you so sweaty?”

“Me? I went for a run, at 5 to watch the sunrise. And I lost track of time so I had to sprint down the mountain and back home.” Betty replied as she put her fingers through her hair.

Jughead kicked a rock on the side “So you just got home when I knocked?”

“I guess, I had time to change and but that’s it. Hence the apple.” She said taking a bite out of said apple.

Jughead looked at her with amusement “I feel like you’re the only one in this town that goes running to see the sunrise.”

“That’s not true,” she protested. “I saw Crystal last Sunday, she was also running up the mountain, we chatted.”

He adjusted his beanie “Who’s Crystal? Never heard of her, does she go to Riverdale High?”

“No, Crystal is Sam’s mom. A boy I used to play with during my community service last year. Met him at the hospital, really sweet kid. I would stay with him until Crystal got off work to see him. Whenever I see her, we like to catch up”

Jughead laughed, encouragingly. “You’re a goddamn saint.” and Betty shook her head at that. “You stopped helping at the hospital?” Jughead asked after a while.

“For a couple years I went twice a week but it’s the final year and all so applications, assignments, exams, and all the other stuff that needs to be done for college is happening. I can only go twice a month now.” Betty shrugged. “I feel bad, alright. You don’t need to guilt me.”

Jughead’s arms went up to mimic a surrender. “No, of course not.”

“Sammy has left the hospital now. He overcame cancer, truly a miracle and brave soul. He calls me his best friend, I try to facetime him every other day, if even just to say hi.” Jughead was surprised and Betty nodded even though he believed her when she said it. “Anyways, let’s talk about something else, this is a bit too heavy for a nine am conversation.”

Jughead stepped on a crunchy leaf, autumn seemed like it only lasted a week whilst winter went on for months. “I don’t want to sound crazy but-“

“Uh oh, that’s usually what someone says when they’re about to say something crazy.” Betty said, he didn’t reply and they walked quietly. “Go on, I promise I won’t think you’re crazy.”

“I think Rosie might’ve been flirting with me… last time.” and he braced himself for her reply.

“Yeah? What did she say?”

“Let’s see. She asked me out to dinner, emphasised that it would only be the two of us, held my hand and called me Jug.” Jughead said warily.

“She probably was, that’s like her. What did you say to the dinner.” Betty asked, they were starting to walk faster.

“I declined but she told me to think about it and tell her today. I don’t know what to say, I can’t go out for dinner with her, she’s crazy.”

Betty smiled at him. “Well if you don’t wanna get involved then I suggest you back out now or she’ll make you her boy toy.” This was so like Rosie, she liked any guy, anyone that was willing to listen to her. Obviously the men at the office tried to stay away so she resorted to new workers, everyone there knew her reputation.

“Boy toy.” Jughead repeated and they laughed together. “But what do I do? She won’t listen if I say no.”

“Tell her you have a girlfriend, or boyfriend.” Betty replied and Jughead nodded.

He snickered and made a few sarcastic comments. Sometimes Betty wondered how they were even friends, being complete opposites, they were unlikely friends even from the start. He wore dark clothes and his jokes were even darker. Betty always brought light to any room she walked into, everyone was immediately drawn to her positive vibes, most of her clothes as a baby were hand-me-downs but as she grew a little older, she started wearing pastel sweaters and light blue jeans, her sense of fashion hasn’t changed at all. She brought out the best in Jughead, that much was obvious. The rest of the walk didn’t include much talking, they half ran, half drank the coffee they got from Starbucks.

When they arrived, the office was almost empty with only a few people sitting in the booths and around a dozen sitting by their desks. Marley took Jughead to his own, it was in a little corner of the room but Betty could still see him and he could see her. He put down his ipad and the few pens and notebooks he brought with him. All the other desks had a monitor and chunky keyboard, which Jughead only realised after Betty helped connect it in for him and there was no space for his organised layout. He sighed as he rearranged his desk before the lift opened and a few more people entered. Jughead turned around to see who it was and Betty shot out of her chair, calling over a couple of people.

Out of the four, one was wearing a suit, the rest looked like they woke up after their alarm and put on whatever they had available, their clothes were creased. Betty whispered something to them before guiding them to Jughead. “Jug these are the other editors, Judy, Elise, Mirren, Max.” She said to him and he put out a hand.

They all greeted him “Jughead Jones. Pleased to meet you.”

“Betty has told us so much since school started. You’ve pretty much been the main gossip topic for us every Monday.” Elise, a lady that Jughead noticed had cat fur all over her shirt. Betty turned red and the other three glanced over at Elise. They cleared their throats in unison before one of them motioned for Jughead to follow, he nodded at Betty before going after Mirren, which he knew because of her desk tag. He decided not to show his novel because of Rosie’s reaction, he chose a couple of articles he wrote for the Blue and Gold, Betty said those were her favorites and he trusted her opinion, Mirren nodded approvingly and even gave him some suggestions, she paused to ask if he was taking notes and he quickly whipped out a post it note and pen, per Betty’s request to always be prepared here.

Jughead was pleased that Mirren wasn’t a complete basket case like Rosie, he’d gathered enough information to make that assumption he told himself just so that he wouldn’t feel guilty about not staying open minded. They talked about techniques and old posts on the website before she gave him a quick editing job, he left the room with a smile and Betty was relieved to see his expression. They sent silent signals across the room and then Jughead opened his email, it was a new work one so his inbox was empty, Jughead found himself playing around with the wallpaper and signature.

Gibberish was whispered in his ear and Jughead jumped, quickly turning around ready to get back whoever did it only to find Rosie staring at him with a wide smile. She was sitting in a chair that was pulled from the desk next to his “Jughead!”

He nodded in response. “Rosie…”

“I’ve been waiting all morning! Betty usually comes at ten.” Rosie said, her nose only inches away from his.

Jughead moved back anxiously. “Yeah, Betty’s there” he said pointing at her desk and Betty waved her fingers at Rosie. “We were literally here at ten.” he continued.

“Well then you must have been hiding from me!” Rosie lauged. _I wish I was_ , Jughead almost said aloud. “So, second thoughts about the dinner? Maybe tonight. Or we could leave now and have lunch. It’s half past eleven which is almost twelve so it’s basically time for lunch and it’s never too early for a lunch date.” She rambled on Betty was a few meters away and raised her eyebrows at Jughead, willing him to say something.

Jughead took a deep breath and sighed hesitantly to waste time. “I think you’ve got it wrong, Rosie. I can’t go on a date with you, at lunch or dinner because… I have a girlfriend.” He lied.

Rosie stood up from the chair and crossed her arms, Jughead also moved to show respect. “You do?” Rosie asked and Jughead nodded with pursed lips. “Oh you should’ve said something earlier.” she playfully slapped his chest. “Who’s the lucky lady?”

Jughead’s heart started to race, he was never really a good liar and he hadn’t even thought about a backstory for his made up girlfriend. _What was her name? What did her father do? Vegan or vegetarian? Or neither? How did they meet? What was her spirit animal?_ He started to panic and looked over to Betty who had been eavesdropping behind the small barrier that separated the two desks.

Betty slid over to his side and wrapped her arm around his. “Me. I’m the lucky lady.” Betty said, it was the first thing that came to mind, she wasn’t a very good liar either, she never needed to lie so it was more of a work in progress. Jughead managed not to scoff and tried to give his most convincing look.

Clearly Rosie was just as shocked as the two of them were. “Oh! I thought you were dating the… uh red hair kid? Artie? Archie? Footballer… muscular arms… stunning face features.” Rosie described him.

Betty gritted her teeth. “Uh yeah, Archie. I’m dating Jughead now though.”

“Never would’ve guessed. He doesn’t seem like your type.” Rosie said as if she knew everything about Betty.

Jughead stood there awkwardly and somehow faked a laugh.

“Well then you don’t know me very well.” Betty joked even though she meant every bit of it. Rosie laughed after her before stumbling out of the room and into her own office. Jughead and Betty unwinded themselves from each other’s arms and their frames shook with mirth. Betty moved back to her own chair and Jughead continued to play around with his email, he got bored fast and rolled over next to Betty. She cast him a sideway glance but didn’t avert her attention, she could still see him in her peripheral vision and wanted to laugh at him playing with her fluffy pen like a five year old.

Betty sent her email and turned on her chair. “So do you have anything to do after this? We could go to the mall, eat something other than Pops? Maybe something a lot healthier.”

“Yeah, I’m free. Lunch sounds great.” Jughead patted his stomach. “Thanks for covering for me, Rosie almost saw right through my lie.”

“I don’t think I helped you much, she’s on to us.” Rosie was strange but she wasn’t dumb, a small wrong move would call them both out and Betty was too prideful to admit that she didn’t want Rosie looking down at their low lie. Jughead took out the post it notes from his pocket and placed it back on Betty’s neat pile, she always loved them since she was small, post it’s not neat piles. She felt a sense of accomplishment every time she used all of them from one stack. Jughead knew about her emergency purse, it always had post it notes and a small pen, Veronica liked to tease her about it because in her emergency purse, there were only makeup products.

The sound of footsteps were louder by the second and Betty could tell that it was Rosie. “Laugh, laugh like I made a joke.” she whispered hurriedly to Jughead and they loudly faked a laugh.

Rosie was unsurprisingly in front of them when Betty opened her eyes. “You guys seem to be having fun…” Rosie said with fake admiration.

Jughead decided not to lie again, “We’re just talking about what to have for lunch.”

“Right, because it’s a special day… our official first month.” Betty said with an arm pat.

Rosie turned on her phone “Why don’t I take a picture of our happy couple? Maybe you two could kiss.” Obviously she didn’t believe the two of them.

“No, no it’s fine Rosie.” Jughead said

“The picture is free! You’ll thank me one day, go on!” Rosie pursued, and before Jughead could reply, Betty’s lips were over his. She opened her mouth and took his in hers, he took a moment to register what was happening but he reacted quick enough and managed to move against her lips. Betty’s eyes were closed, he could feel his almost chapped lips on her soft ones, he tasted a bit like lemon and ashtray, perks of being 18 Betty thought. Jughead didn’t want to get too lost in her mouth, he wouldn’t be able to stop and he knew it was all for show, yet her honey and minty breath tempted him to do otherwise. It was slow and they somehow found a rhythm before Jughead pulled away to catch his breath. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Archie standing next to Rosie, an expression he couldn’t even name, Betty swore under her breath when she looked up.

“I didn’t know you were so fun, Betty Cooper! Dating two guys at once.” Rosie marvelled, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She knew what she was doing and Jughead wanted to leap at her.

Archie grabbed Betty’s purse and her wrist before pulling her out of the room, she didn’t say anything or turn to Jughead. Archie lead her to the car and he drove in silence, the music wasn’t even on and Betty didn’t know how to defend herself, no excuse sounded right. Neither of them spoke, she couldn’t tell if he was mad or upset or both. Archie pulled over in the middle of the road and looked at her.

“I’m sorry-Archie.” Betty’s voice broke. “The kiss-”

“I told you he was up to something, baby.” Archie interrupted. His tone was sharp but the baby at the end was gentle and she knew he wasn’t very mad.

Betty unbuckled her seatbelt and faced him. “I kissed him first, to get Rosie off his back. You know what she’s like with the new people. The kiss meant nothing.”

Archie leaned in to kiss her, she sunk into his lips and tried to forget how Jughead’s lips felt against hers, it wouldn’t be fair to either of them. “As long as it means nothing to you, I forgive you because I love you too much.” he said and Betty sighed, her hands trailing along his face.

“I love you too. I’m really sorry, I crossed a line.” Betty said.

He put a finger against her lips. “Stop apologising, I’ve forgiven you.”

“What can I do to make up for it?” Betty said as he put his hands on the steering wheel.

“I’m hungry… for you.” a smug grin on his face and Betty giggled when it turned to his grinch face. “My parents are out of town. And you’re wearing literally the shortest shorts in your closet, even though it’s almost winter. So I was thinking…” he drifted off.

Betty looked at him, it had been a while and he always flirted his way into her pants, she always asked how he survived living to sixteen without having sex considering how often he wanted to do it with her. She wasn’t really feeling it and it was barely past morning but she did owe him so she nodded and put back on her seatbelt as he sped back to his house.

He opened her door for her when they arrived. As soon as she got on her own two legs, his hands were around her waist and he was kissing her passionately on every bit of skin that was visible from collarbone and above. The only reason they got into his bedroom was because Betty started to feel nervous that his neighbors would be watching as he slipped a hand down her pants. Neither of them turned on the lights as they entered, it was usually like that, in the dark or under covers, they never did it with the lights on because his dad would walk in on them, thinking that he’d need to warn them to sleep earlier and stop doing homework. He pulled the sweater off her head as they walked up the stairs and left it on the floor. They took everything off of each other until the only thing left was Betty’s underwear, which Archie played with in his fingers, teasing her. He moved her over to the bed and he was hovering over her in one smooth motion. It wasn’t slow, not at all, they finished with choppy breaths, sweat on the both of them, Betty’s legs wrapped around his body, because he didn’t have enough energy to pull out. Archie traced circles along her chest as their breathing steadied, another one of his hands were slowly going down to her hips. She nudged him to get off of her and he slowly moved to the side, she stared at the ceiling and so did he. It was like that for a while, the both of them wrapped in a thin blanket, they knew it would have to be washed along with the bed cover. Archie turned on the light and got out, walking naked to his drawer to get a fresh pair of boxers. He pulled open the curtains and light filled the room, Betty pulled the blanket around her even more. She was self conscious about her body, yes he was all over her minutes ago but it was different to seeing her in the bare light. He hasn’t said anything about her weight but he never says anything when she criticizes herself, he even encouraged her to go on a diet. “Let’s have lunch. Then I can drive you back home.” He offered and Betty nodded. “I’ll get your sweater, I think it’s outside.” he left the room and Betty quickly put on her bra and underwear.

Betty texted Jughead at night apologising and he replied with a heart emoji, at school he tried to avoid her more because Archie was always with her. Veronica saw a bruise on Betty’s wrist that was left from Archie pulling her away from the office, she had to explain to Veronica that Archie didn’t hit her and he didn’t intend on hurting her at all. Veronica wasn’t entirely convinced but didn’t talk about it after Betty told her to drop it.


	7. vi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO COLE <3\. 4/08
> 
> Hope you like this chapter :) sorry it's not long, I didn't really take that into account when I wrote it.

It was winter, the temperature dropped by at least ten degrees even though it was just November. Jughead sat on a small couch in the Blue and Gold room and Betty was sitting on a chair by a desk across him. Occasionally she’d look at him to see if he were really doing work, not that she doubted him. Class started in 8 minutes and Jughead sighs at how time went by so quickly. They started meeting in the morning every now and then and whenever they have free time, sometimes they sit in complete silence and sometimes they talk so much that they don’t get anything done. Most of the time Jughead would sit on the couch and Betty would sit by a desk because she always wanted to write stuff on paper as well. Every now and then, Jughead would sit closer to Betty or the other way round and it was usually those days that they wasted all their time talking.

Jughead looked up from his laptop and softly called Betty’s name, she looked at him and shut her own screen.

“We should go to attendance now.” he said and Betty nodded thinking the exact same thing.

“I won’t be able to meet tomorrow after school.” Betty says as they walk out. Her first Spanish tutoring that Ms González asked her to do would start then, she was a bit nervous even though she had a lot planned, she figured the other student doing it as well would be a bit prepared and hopefully more confident than she was.

Jughead nodded and then remembered that he had something too. “Oh! I can’t go tomorrow either, I probably won’t be able to meet Thursday after school for a while.” he said.

Betty smiled at their perfectly coordinated schedules. “Same. Okay so I guess we can say that Thursday meetings are cancelled.” she says while they walk through the door of the main room.

“Yeah.” Jughead says. Mr Moyes looks at the two of them and then marks them on the attendance.

“Bye, Jug.” Betty says as she’s just about to walk to psychology lesson.

“See you… we have chem and AP English together today so talk to you later.” he called as he walked to his Spanish class.

When Jughead and Betty aren’t in the Blue and Gold room at break, they’re at the cafeteria. She asked him countless times to sit with them on their table but he always declines. Betty normally looks at his direction too many times, he sits by himself on a table in a corner and she mostly feels bad that he won’t even try sitting with them. In Chemistry they’re partners, they switched not too long ago and their original arranged partners never liked how up tight they were so it wasn’t hard to convince the switch. Most of the time, it was Jughead who would accidentally spill a chemical on the table, they laugh it off before responsibly cleaning up the mess.

It was Thursday after school, Betty hadn’t seen Jughead since this morning in attendance and she wished neither of them were busy so they could meet up. She stood inside the tutor centre waiting for the other student Ms González said would meet her there, Betty started pacing around worried that he or she wasn’t going to turn up and she’d have to teach the group of children all alone. She glanced at her watch and at the exact same time, the sound of a motorbike was right outside the door. She peered out the window and gasped in surprise as she watched Jughead take off his helmet. He walked in slowly and went straight to the front desk, looking at the secretary.

“Good afternoon, I’m here for the tutoring.” he said, and the lady sitting in front, nodded. “Do you know where the other student is? Ms González said I would be working with somebody.” He asked when she put down the phone. Betty stood behind him trying to bite back a laugh. The secretary pointed to his shoulder and he turned around.

“Betty?” Jughead said shocked. “What are you doing here?”

“Jug, I’m the other student.” she replied. He nodded slowly.

“Did you know we’d be working together?” he said after a while.

“I had no idea, and judging by your expression, you didn’t know either.” she said “I’ve got some stickers and stuff, depending on their level, we can teach different things.” she carried on.

“I brought stickers too! And name tags.” he replied. The lady that was sitting at the front showed them to a door and gave them a thumbs up before opening it. Inside sat kids that looked around six years old, they looked at Jughead and Betty curiously.

“¿Cómo te llamas? Yo me llamo Betty.” What is your name? My name is Betty. Betty said when nobody spoke. They all stared blindlessly at the two of them

“Mi nombre es Jughead.” My name is Jughead. The kids stifled a laugh at his name, he looked at Betty and sent her a silent signal.

“So how much Spanish do you know?” Betty said to the children, and they all replied in English.

“Well, we’ve got a lot of work to do.” Jughead whispered into Betty’s ear and she nodded.

An hour and a half later, the kid’s learnt how to say a few simple phrases and could count to ten. They all lined up and hugged Betty and Jughead goodbye before walking out the door to find their parents. Betty picked up her phone and went on the family group chat.

Betty: Is anybody free? Can someone pick me up?  
Betty: I’m on the other side of town, I can’t walk home.  
Betty: Mom? Dad?  
Mom: Sorry sweet, your father and I went on a last minute business trip to New York.  
Mom: You could take a cab? Or ask somebody else to pick you up.  
Mom: See if Jughead is free.  
Chic: you’re in NY and you didn’t tell us! -Polly.  
Mom: We didn’t want to disturb your studies.  
Chic is typing…

Betty sighed and put away her phone. She didn’t want to interrupt Jughead’s day. They walked out of the centre and Jughead looked at her as he put on his helmet.

“Are you waiting for your mom or dad?” he asked

“Neither, they went on a last minute business trip.” Betty replied

“How are you getting home?” he asked

“Not sure, maybe I’ll walk a bit and find a cab.” she said putting her phone back in her bag.

“Don’t be silly. Come with me, I can drive you home.” he said getting off his bike and walking towards her.

“You’re joking right? I can’t get on that thing.” she said pointing to his bike.

He chuckled. “Why not?”

“It’s dangerous! I’ll fall off and split my skull.” she said folding her arms together.

“You can take my helmet.” he said handing it to her.

“Then what about you! you didn’t deny the splitting skull comment.” she said

“Just take it. I’m an experienced rider, it’s only a ten minute drive.” he said, pulling apart her arms and shoving the helmet into her hand. Her stomach rumbled and her cheeks turned a bit red.

“Well now you definitely have to come. You’re hungry, I’m hungry. It’s a fifteen minute drive then.” he said and Betty gave in as he pulled her hand.

“Okay, keep your feet up and hold on tight.” he said right before he turned on the engine. Betty didn’t even get to reply before he sped off. She started screaming and Jughead slowed down a little trying to tell her to close her mouth. Betty thought several times that she would die, or Jughead would but as they were getting closer to Pop’s, she realised how much she actually enjoyed the wind blowing at her face and how free she felt. They got off and Betty was smiling from ear to ear. She then pouted and said she wanted to go on again, Jughead laughed and said they could later.

Pop’s was empty and they took a seat near the back. Betty looked at the menu even though she normally got the same thing. Jughead waved his arm and a new waitress went to their table.

“Hello, I’m Cassie. How may I help?” she said facing Jughead.

“I think we’re ready to order.” he said and she nodded. “I’ll have the classic burger with fries, two please.” he said smiling

“Two burgers?” she asked surprised.

“Yes, thanks.”

“And for the lady?” she asked looking at Betty.

“Ummm, I’ll have,” Betty said still looking at the menu. Jughead pushed it down from her hand and she shot him a look. “Should I have the strawberry or vanilla milkshake?” she asked him.

Jughead looked up at Cassie. “She’ll have both, strawberry and vanilla,” He winced when Betty kicked him from underneath the table. “ And could I have a cup of black coffee, that’s it for now.” he said and Cassie scribbled something down on her notepad before she walked away.

“Jug! I can’t drink all that! We have a cheer performance tomorrow.” Betty said.

“So? What does cheerleading have anything to do with what you eat or drink?” he asks

“I’ll bloat. Everyone will be able to see it through my uniform, I’m already not thin enough.” she said suddenly feeling insecure. Betty covered her face and rest her elbows on the table. “I hate my body.” she said quietly but loud enough for Jughead to hear. She looked down and Jughead stood up and sat besides her, wrapping his arms around her shoulder.

“I think you’re beautiful” he said nudging her closer to him.

“You’re just saying that.” Betty replied still looking down.

“No, I’m not. I see you all the time and I think you’re perfect.” he said softly. She hid her head in the crook of his neck and shook her head. “I like your body.” he stated strongly. She laughed into his shirt.

“That’s just you.” she said and after a pause “Archie has never said that to me. He always tells me to get a salad.” Jughead was mortified, what kind of guy tells a girl what she should eat?

“Well I’m not Archie. And I say, eat whatever you want to eat. You can have my burgers, you need it more than I do.” he said

“Jug, I’ve been on a veg and fruit diet for almost two weeks, I can’t have a milkshake and a burger.”

“Why not? Burgers have lettuce and tomato inside… a strawberry milkshake is made from strawberries. I don’t see the problem.” he tried to say jokingly, she didn’t laugh.

He put his fingers to her cheek. “Hey, look at me.” he said huskily. Betty slowly moved her head and tried to focus on his eyes, she was embarrassed but why? They’d known each other ever since they were 4.

“It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, including Archie, including me. It’s your body. I think you don’t even need to be on a diet and if someone says otherwise, then don’t let it get to your head. You can choose what you want to eat, it’s your stomach not your boyfriend’s.” he said. “and if you’re eating to be healthy then that’s great but you can have a break every now and then to eat your other favourite foods.”

Cassie came back with the milkshakes and burgers. “Anything else?” she asked as she put it on the table. Jughead looked at Betty and nodded towards his own burger.

“Could I have a chicken burger please? and instead of the fries, I’ll have a salad.” Betty said to Cassie and Jughead laughed and shook his head at her request for a salad. “Yes, you convinced me to get a burger but I’ll feel too guilty if I have fries as well.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jughead replied as he took a mouthful of fries. “I know you want some.” he said tempting her, Betty shook her head and giggled. His heart went warm at her smile, the way her green eyes sparkled when just a few minutes ago they were dark and hidden. She took a sip from her milkshake and sighed with contentment, if she were eating with Archie he would be appalled.

Cassie came back with the burger and salad as well as Jughead’s coffee. She smiled at the two of them.

“Can’t even sit across from each other for a meal huh? Young couples these days.” She said acknowledging how Jughead was sitting on the same side as Betty. Betty blushed again and Jughead quickly defended the two of them saying that she was dating someone else.

Cassie’s eyebrows went up. “If you say so. I’ve seen her here recently a lot more with you more so than the redhead.” and then walked away. Jughead snorted and went back to his own side of the booth.

He picked up his burger and put out his hand. “Cheers.”

Betty bit her lower lip and nodded, holding her burger and gently punching his own. “Cheers!” she said excitedly. By the end of her meal she was so full it felt like she couldn't move.

Jughead looked out the window, some days it would be dark before seven but other times the sun didn’t set until eight. Today was one of those days where it was past six but the sky was still a light blue shade.

“Hey, wanna do something fun” he said turning to face Betty, she was pulling her hair out of the tight ponytail and Jughead watched it fall into soft waves on her shoulder.

“Hmmm, like?” she asked taking a sip from her vanilla milkshake.

“It’s a surprise, are you up for it or not?” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. “We’ll ride the bike.” he added and that convinced Betty, she nodded and Jughead called Cassie over, giving her an extra big tip. They walked out together and Betty ran to the motorbike trying to turn it on, he laughed loudly and threw her the keys. He helped her put on the helmet and she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, leaning her head on the side of his neck.

Jughead drove them to a familiar forest and Betty looked around with wide eyes.

“Sweetwater river?” she asked. They loved going here before especially when it was summer, sometimes on their way home they would stop and play by the water, or in the water depending on their mood. Not a lot has changed, nobody really goes there because of the muddy grass that’s always there. Jughead and Betty found an area that wasn’t always covered in mud after exploring for almost a year and they played there most of the time.

“Yes, but we’re going to go a bit higher.” Jughead said and hit the accelerator. They quickly went up a small hill and Betty was thrilled at the speed they were going at. He hit the brakes when they reached what seemed like Jughead’s destination. He offered his hand and Betty took it as she got off his bike. He led her to the side of the small mountain that looked over the river and had a clear view of the sky which was starting to set.

“Wow, this is beautiful.” Betty said taking in every part of the view. Jughead had taken out a small picnic blanket from his motorbike and he sat on it admiring Betty admire the sky, she turned to look at him and he patted the blanket motioning for her to sit next to him.

“Once the sun sets we’ll be able to see the stars.” he said softly. She layed down and leaned her head on his lap staring at his face.

“How’d you find this place?” Betty asked as she played with Jughead’s fluffy jacket.

“The day before school started I went to Pop’s and saw you with Archie. I don’t know what happened then, I didn’t end up getting anything and I just went on a long drive. Until I stopped here.” he replied. “I come here to think or to have some peace, you can see all of sweetwater river from here.”

Betty nodded and sat back up, pointing to a well that looked like the size of a fingernail from where they were. “Remember the day we discovered that well, and realised we didn’t need to jump in the river to get the mud off us?” she said.

“Yeah. You were so happy. You started dancing and insisted I danced as well.”

“But you didn’t, Jug. You just laughed at me.” Betty giggled at the memory.

“We didn’t end up using the well though because you always found a way to push me in the river and then join me there.” he said. They sat in silence for a while until Jughead pointed at a big tree that leaned into the river.

“Remember that day you had a pink dress on and you didn’t want to get it dirty, but I wanted to get in the river cuz it was hot?” he asked.

“I took my dress off and hung it on that tree before jumping in the water. I remember. And I showed off about being in the river with just underwear on so you took your clothes off too so that I would shut up.” She said and they both laughed.

“Argh, when did I get so boring, Juggie?” she said, it was a rhetorical question. “I hate myself.” she continued semi-jokingly.

“That’s okay.” Jughead said quickly. Betty turned her head and looked at him surprised, she expected some sort of comforting reply. He looked at and their eyes locked, green but also a bit hazel against the sunlight and a mysterious greyish blue. “I guess I’ll just have to love you enough for both of us.” he said seriously and Betty smiled a little, suddenly feeling vulnerable. “Until you can see yourself the way I see you, you’re not boring. You’re actually the most intriguing person I know.” he said softly while tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

“You’ve got to meet more people then.” Betty said, lightly pushing him on his shoulders. His eyes widened and so did hers.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he said looking at his motorbike.

“That we go back down and push each other into the river?” she said already excited. He stood up abruptly making the wind blow her hair into a mess, she smoothed out the flying hairs and quickly sat on his bike. When they got down Jughead took off his woolly jacket and shirt, grateful that he decided to wear shorts today so that he wouldn’t have to take them off too, and jumped in. His head bopped above the water and he pulled off his beanie, laying it on the grass and then he looked up at Betty who was having second thoughts on the idea.

“No. You must get in now that I’m in, Betts.” he said raising his arm up. She looked down at the jeggings and shirt deciding whether she should take it off or not. The only good reason not to was that Jughead would see her bare body, he hasn’t since they were ten and she has definitely changed since then.

Jughead sensed her nervousness. “Are you wearing a bra?” he asked and Betty nodded. “Are you wearing underwear?” and she nodded again. “Then get in here!” and Betty shook her head.

“Okay, this is some girl thing right? Are you feeling insecure about your body?” he said and Betty just stared at him. “So it is. One, I think you’re beautiful as I’ve already implied today. Two, I’ve seen you naked before, I don’t see why this should be any different.” he said after a pause.

“Because, Jug, I’ve changed, there’s a thing called puberty.” she said in response to his second point.

“Yeah and? Are you afraid I’ll get horny looking at you.” he laughed and Betty’s eyebrows went up. “That’s a joke. I promise if I do, I’ll tell you to put your clothes back on before you see my erection.”

Betty bit back a laugh and sighed heavily.

“Well turn around first.” she ordered and Jughead slowly faced the other side. She quickly slipped off her clothes and jumped in the river making the water splash all over Jughead.

Jughead quickly spun around with a mischievous smile on his face and Betty knew what he was going to do next.

“No! Nooo! I’m sorry!” she shrieked as he started splashing water on her face. He got closer and then quickly wrapped his arms around her bare stomach and tickling her. She started to tell him to stop but couldn’t catch her breath from laughing so much.

“Ju- jugg- JUGGY, st-stop please” Betty yelled in between laughs. He slowly put his arms back behind him and smirked at her, she had the hiccups now and he thought it was adorable how embarrassed she was. She hurriedly got out of the river and sat on the grass studying him. His hair got more curly if that was even possible, his body was toned and muscular not the kind with bulging muscles but defined lines on his torso and a V line that lead to the his shorts which kept her wondering.

Jughead turned around and grinned. “What are you looking at?” he said teasingly.

“Oh shut up, I have a boyfriend.” she retorted.

“I know, but it seems to me that you were looking first.” his face plastered with amusement. “It’s only fair if I get to do the same.” he said, his eyes travelling down from her eyes down her neck, to her chest. Her bra was thin and flimsy and he willed himself not to look any lower, he lifted his head but not before he caught a glimpse of her stomach, why is she self conscious about her body ? He thought to himself. Betty’s cheek was crimson red and she quickly hugged her knees to her body trying to cover herself from his eyes.

“You blush so much when you’re with me, should I be catching some sort of sign?” he said trying to pull her legs down so he could see her face. He was about to climb up to sit next to her and she put her legs down.

“You’re a jerk.” she said as she shoved him back into the water.

“I am. Self proclaimed and undeniable.” he laughed. “I’m serious, you’re pretty when you blush.” he said before he could stop himself. There was a moment of silence, Betty didn’t know how to reply to that compliment.

“Now, help me out.” he said offering his hand to her, Betty rolled her eyes and took his hand and before she knew it, she was in the river as well. She fell in head first and as her head went up, she tried to brush her hair back, Jughead chuckled and allowed her to punch him for a few seconds.

“You’re a terrible person.” she said as she shivered. Jughead immediately looked worried and glanced down at her goosebumps.

“Are you cold?” he asked, Betty nodded whilst getting out of the river once again.

“I really should have taken in consideration of the weather before agreeing to come here.” she said in between shivers. Jughead helped himself out and wrapped his jacket around her shoulders, his pants were dripping with water and they felt heavy and he sat down besides her, The sun already set which made it even cooler and the sky was so dark he could barely make out where her face was.

They sat there like that for a while until Jughead’s body was no longer wet. Betty shivered again, her hair clearly very wet. “Here, I’ll warm you up.” he said as he pulled her in, they shifted quickly and she was in his lap, the jacket still wrapped around her.

She rested her head on Jughead’s upper chest and sunk into his warm embrace. He gently moved her hair back, trying to comb out the knots with his fingers, he could feel her breathing hard against him, still occasionally shaking. He started braiding her hair, something she had taught him many years ago.

“Are you doing my hair?” she asked softly not wanting to move or make him mess up.

“Yeah, dutch braid I think. The one you taught me.” he replied, carefully moving the hair in order.

Betty smiled against his skin and could feel his heart racing, she allowed herself to take a look at his muscles again. Her fingers slowly went up to his stomach, she traced the hard, visible lines and she felt his stomach clench at the touch, but he didn’t tell her to stop so she didn’t. She knew this wasn’t a good idea, she was almost naked, wearing a soaking wet bra and a pair of thin underwear, she rarely even got this close with Archie she thought to herself.

“Betty…” Jughead said, his voice hoarse. She giggled lightly and removed her hand from his skin. He was done with the braid and put his arms down, coincidentally, she moved her whole body back to look at him and his hands brushed the uncovered skin of her cleavage. It was Jughead’s turn to blush and he was glad that it was dark so that Betty couldn’t see, but she could feel herself sitting against his obvious arousal. She dropped her arm carelessly and immediately jerked it back up as soon as she touched the bulge at the front of his pants.

“Good lord!” Betty whispered-yelled as she stumbled to get out of Jughead’s legs.

“I guess it’s too late to warn you about my horniness now…?” he said and it sounded like a question.

“Ya think?” she replied quickly.

“You need to put on your pants.” he said, his eyes lingering over her waist and the flimsy material covering her lady part.

“You need to put on your clothes!” she exclaimed. “And stop looking! You’re making this worse.” she cried trying not to laugh. Jughead stared a little longer before Betty hit him with her shirt and threw him is own one. She got her pants on in seconds and sighed dramatically.

“Is this what I get for getting you warm?” Jughead asked in between laughs.

“After making me cold in the first place? Yes.” she replied as she pulled her shirt over her head, brushing over the braid. “But thank you for the braid.” she said a little quietly when they walked over to the motorbike. “And thank you for making me warm.” she added pretending that she didn’t blame him just seconds ago. He drove her home and they baked cookies together because Jughead thought it was still early, when it was ten, he hugged her goodnight and drove off on his motorbike. Betty thought to herself what a great day it was, starting from cheating on her diet to the mountain view and then to Sweetwater river with Jughead just like when they were children.

She fell asleep with a smile on her lips and she hoped Jughead felt the same.

Jughead got home to their two bedroom flat and Fp was sitting on the couch watching basketball with a beer in his hand.

“Hey boy, where’ve you been?” he asked as he glanced at the clock.

“With Betty.” Jughead replied as he went over to the kitchen, taking the stuff out of his bag.

“Yeah? So late?” Fp said, a smile forming on his face. “Should I ask what you did?” he asked wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

“Dad! What? No. We didn’t do anything, I already told you she has a boyfriend.”

“Yeah and I told you the Jone’s men can always charm a lady and capture their heart, if they really wanted it. And I know you’ve wanted it since the day you met her.” he said and then took a huge sip of beer.

_It was the first year of elementary and the first semester just ended, it was December and it snowed every now and then. All the children had huge coats and furry boots as they played at the playground, Betty baked cookies for everyone for the the last day before break and was giving it out to her classmates as they ran around. Jughead sat on the stairs in a corner hugging himself tightly, Fp couldn’t afford a warm winter jacket or thick boots so he wore a scarf his mom, Gladys halfway knitted, a cotton long sleeved shirt, the only one that didn’t have a hole in it and jeans that stopped before his ankles. He shivered and rubbed his ears, hearing the sound of his stomach, he didn’t have breakfast because they couldn’t afford it and his lunch was a thin slice of bread and peas. He watched Betty’s blonde hair swing from side to side as she smiled happily and offered her cookies. Jughead wanted so badly to ask her for one but didn’t have the confidence to do so because he was afraid of getting rejected by her, he waited as parents started taking their children back home and decided he’d wait ten more minutes before he walked home, himself._

_Just as Betty put the lid over the tin box full of cookies and turned towards her mom, she saw a body hiding in the darkness of the stairways. She walked over with wide eyes and her lips curled upwards as she realised it was her classmate, they weren’t in the same class but sometimes she saw him in the playground reading a book._

_“Would you like a cookie?” she asked offering him the box, Jughead looked up at her and then quickly looked back down at the hole in his shoes. Betty looked at him and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear before choosing to sit next to him, he shivered again and pulled his knees to his chest._

_“You’re cold,” she said as her eyes drifted over his clothes. She quickly took off her coat and put it around his scrawny body, and he looked up at her curiously. “You need it more than I do” she said simply and took out a cookie. She held her arm over his hands and when he still didn’t take it, she used her other hand and pulled out his, placing the cookie gently over his palm. He stared at it eagerly and whispered a thank you before taking a huge bite from it, he finished it in seconds and Betty automatically knew he was hungry, offering another one._

_“Really?” he asked, his hand already reaching for it. She giggled and nodded._

_“I’m Betty Cooper, by the way.” she said as he finished his third cookie._

_“I know, you’re class leader.” he said finally looking at her._

_“And you’re… Forsythe Pendleton Jones?” she asked. It seemed sincere and not like some of his other classmates that laughed at his nickname. He nodded._

_“The third. Don’t laugh.” he said quickly putting his hand over her mouth. His hand was freezing against her skin and she softly pushed his hands down._

_“I would never.” she said and pulled off her scarf handing it to Jughead._  
_“My scarf might be warmer,” she said and Jughead thought that this four year old had a wide range of vocabulary. “If you want, I can finish sewing your scarf.” she offered as her fingers touched the fraying edges of yarn. He slowly pulled it off and gave it to her and nodded in response._

_“You can call me Jughead.”_

_“Betty? Betty?” a voice called, probably her mom Jughead thought._

_“Mom! Polly! Polly! Chic! I’m here!” she screamed waving her arms._

_“She’s over there!” another voice followed and Jughead knew it was her older sister._

_“Betty!” Alice said as she scrambled over to the stairs. “We were looking all over for you! You suddenly disappeared, I thought you gave all your cookies away.” she continued._

_“Sorry, Mom.” Betty replied. “I have given all my cookies now.” she added._

_“Oh my, Elizabeth! Where’s your coat? You could catch a cold here.” Alice said worriedly._

_“So could Jughead.” Betty replied_

_“Jughead?” she asked and she peered behind her daughter surprised to see a thin boy with her coat on. Jughead quickly stood up and averted his gaze as he pulled off the coat._

_“No, no keep it for now.” Betty insisted not accepting her coat._

_“Mom, this is Jughead.” she said as she faced her mom. She could see Polly trying to hold back a laugh but Chic just stood there taking in Jughead’s bony frame. “He’s my new best friend.” she said and picked up the tin box from the stairs handing it to her mom._

_“I am?” Jughead whispered in Betty’s ear. He never had an actual friend before and didn’t know what casual things friends even did, Betty nodded and her smile was wide. Jughead ended up going home with them and eating dinner there, he was amazed at how much food there was on the table._

Alice brought Jughead home to the trailer and tried to bite back her comment about his hideous living arrangement, she later told Betty to tell Jughead that he could come any time, for food, for clothes, for company.One of his worst habits was playing with her hair, since they were always next to each other. If Jughead got nervous then he’d twist Betty’s hair in his fingers, she never seemed to mind. He hair was always down at that time, not in the tight ponytail she had everyday now. He was fidgety, all the time and Betty was the only one that even bothered trying to talk to him and understand how he felt, she could calm him down. When kids picked on him at the start of middle school, Betty was the one that stood up for him, he knew she was scared as well but she never let anybody make fun of him.

Becoming friends with Betty Cooper was the best thing that ever happened to him. A small smile formed on his lips as he thought back to that day, she was so kind and welcoming towards him and he knew he could never do anything to repay her for the second home she gave him.


	8. vii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somebody told me that they really didn't like this fic and also said 'why would someone think I'd like it.' and 'ewww' etc. 
> 
> I realise that there's still a lot of Barchie even though this is a Bughead fanfic, I hope you know that it won't be like that for the rest of this fic, it's just slowly developing like the summary says. I really appreciate everyone who left kudos and comments, it really keeps me writing, especially after the not so positive responses I've gotten. Hope you like this chapter!!

Betty sat on her bed and sneezed into a tissue, she sighed in relief when her nose finally stopped running. It was flu season and she hasn’t been at school since that Thursday with Jughead, she knew that jumping in that river was a terrible idea. She looked around her room, tissues were everywhere, her notes covered every inch of the floor, an unfinished sandwich from last night. Her entire body was sore, she couldn’t move her arms without everything aching. To top that all off, she had stomach cramps which kept her walking every now and then to the bathroom, her entire five days at home were spent between her room to the bathroom and occasionally the kitchen when she felt hungry. Her parents were still away on their business trip and even though they checked in with Betty, she didn’t want to tell them she felt sick and risk them leaving work for her. She looked at her watch and it was almost five, she wanted to text Archie, Veronica or even Jughead but her phone was on her vanity and she didn’t want to get off her bed. She started scribbling down in a notebook, checking if her laptop finished charging every now and then. She felt lightheaded so she lay her head on her pillow and closed her eyes. 

Jughead finished off at the Blue and Gold before turning off the lights behind him, even though Betty wasn’t at school, he still went in the mornings and after school so that she could come back to finished work. It was a Tuesday and he started getting worried about Betty, it was his fault that she felt sick because he was the one that made her jump into the river. He glanced at the clock and decided then that he would visit her. He quickly got on his motorbike and drove through the familiar route to her neighbourhood. He parked the bike right outside her door and knocked, when nobody answered he tried again. He stood there for 2 minutes and told himself that maybe Betty was in her bedroom, “worth checking out” he said to nobody in particular.

Jughead walked around to the side and smiled when he saw the ladder next to her window. He squinted and looked up, her curtains were opened which meant she was awake. He started to climb up the ladder, one hand on the wood and one on his beanie so it wouldn’t fall off from the wind. 

When they were kids, after playing in the river, they would sneak through her window via the ladder and quickly change out of their wet clothes before her mom found them. Most of the time Betty would give them away by telling him to tiptoe, he always rolled his eyes at her whenever they were discovered. But her mom never told him off, only Betty. 

He knocked on the window and when there was no reply, he knocked again and then tried to push it open. Betty quickly shot up, alarmed that someone was trying to get in and she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she saw the familiar beanie. He stepped through and Betty frantically moved trying to find something to cover her face. 

She grabbed her blanket and put it over her head and Jughead chuckled to himself, sitting on the other side of her bed. 

“Jug! You can’t do that!” she said, her voice muffled by the blanket. 

“I can’t visit my sick friend?” he replied trying to pull down the blanket but her grip tightened.

“No! well yes,” she mumbled. “but not when your friend hasn’t showered in almost two days and looks like complete shit.” 

“Oh come on, two days is nothing!” he said trying to make her feel better. 

Betty shook her head under the blanket. “I look hideous.” she said. Jughead attempted to pull down the blanket again.

“I’m pregnant.” he said when it didn’t work.

“Sorry, what?” she asked. 

“I’m pregnant.” Jughead repeated louder even though he knew she heard. 

“No, no, I heard you. I mean… what? why?” she said stammering. He murmured something and Betty slowly removed the blanket. 

He pulled it down quickly. “I thought we were saying things that were impossible.” 

Betty tried to hide how red her cheeks were turning and if he saw, he didn’t acknowledge it. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked as she pushed her hair back. 

“Sick. Tired. And my cramps just keep getting worse.” she replied, rubbing her face. Jughead knew that cramps meant she was having her time of the month, Jellybean got it before she and his mom left the house and never returned. 

He looked around her room. “What are with all the papers everywhere.” 

“Notes for the exams. I need good results so that I can keep acceptance letters from the school’s I’m applying for. I’m so stressed.” she grunted. 

“ It’s not yet December. You don’t need to overwork yourself.” he replied. 

“No, but I still have to do good, and the AP courses are going to be more challenging.” she said.

“5? Don’t you only need three?” 

“5 is better. And I take 5 AP courses. English language, English literature, Spanish literature, Psychology and world history. You take AP courses, and you’ve done the AP exams at your old school right?” she forgot about how much everything hurt and winced in pain when she turned her head. 

“Yeah, and the SAT’s. I’m not worried” 

“Okay. Enough boring exam talk. I’ve edited a bit for Blue and Gold. Will the paper still be able to be released next week as scheduled?” Betty said as she slowly got off her bed to clean up the floor. 

“Yes, I’ve stayed after school like we planned. I’ve got to admit it was a lot more boring without you there.” he said and watched as she stumbled back onto her bed. “Do all your muscles ache?” he said, helping her make some room on the bed. She nodded. “I could give you a massage? Like a back rub or something… my dad used to make me do it for Jelly and my mom when they had their… um, yeah.” he said motioning at her upper thighs. 

Betty giggled. “Okay.” she said in a quiet whisper. She shifted a bit and lay down, her back facing up. Jughead moved closer to her and gently put his hands on the fabric of her shirt and slowly started pressing his fingers in. 

“Jug?” Betty said softly after a while. “Can you use the cream on the vanity? It’s supposed to be some sort of relief or whatever. You can move my sweater up.” she said. He somehow croaked out an ‘okay’ and lifted up her shirt. He grabbed the cream, rubbing it in his palms before he slowly started massaging her. Her skin felt soft and smooth against his hand and he had to try hard not to move it anywhere inappropriate, since last thursday, he couldn’t stop thinking about the way she made him feel. How could his childhood best friend whom he had seen naked a thousand times before, suddenly make him feel aroused, he tried to deny the feelings but knew deep down that he liked her, Betty Cooper. The perfect girl who only thought of him as friend. 

“You feeling better?” he asked trying to get the dirty thoughts out of his head. 

“A little higher. Like underneath my shoulders. You should push my sweater a little higher.” she said and he did as she requested, slowly working upwards. She whimpered, satisfied with the massage. 

About twenty minutes later Betty pulled down her shirt and slowly turned to face him. He moved his hands to the back and smiled at her.

“Thank you, Juggie. That felt amazing, I feel so much better.” 

“So how long has it been since you’ve eaten? What about I quickly cook up something for the two of us, I’m quite hungry.” he said, standing up and picking the sandwich off the floor. 

“Of course you are. Yes I’d love food, I just haven’t been able to find the motivation to cook. Do you want to start first, I should probably wash my face and stuff.” Betty suggested and he nodded. 

She got into the bathroom and quickly started splashing her face with water, she glanced at the mirror and was horrified at her tired, washed out face. How Jughead didn’t react badly to that was something she would never know. She quickly took off her clothes and got in the shower, rinsing herself clean. As she got out she felt all fresh and watched herself glow in the mirror. She put on clean underwear and without looking, she stepped forwards and slipped on a big puddle. Her left arm immediately got caught on the bathroom shelf and she heard it snap before she felt nothing, and then so much. 

She screamed in pain as soon as she moved it to help herself up, obviously it was much worse than a scratch.

“Betty? Are you okay?” Jughead screamed from downstairs. Betty wanted to reply but every time she opened her mouth, she was on the verge of screaming. 

When there was no reply, Jughead quickly put down the knife that he was cutting the peppers with and rinsed his hands. He slowly went up the stairs. “Betty? I’m coming up.” 

“N-no,” she said quietly and she knew Jughead wouldn’t be able to hear that. “No-ooow” she screamed and tried to pull her towel with her right hand over her chest. He knocked softly on the bathroom door and his jaw dropped when he saw her almost naked on the floor, face completely flushed and hair totally wet. A part of his body didn’t understand that this was serious and he felt himself twitch in between his legs. 

“What happened! Why are you on the floor?” he said and he bent down to the floor. 

“My-my arm” she stammered. He looked at her and realised that her right hand was clutching the small towel and the left one was bent awkwardly. 

“Okay, okay try not to move, we should get you to the hospital. Do you need help standing up?” he asked offering his hand.

“Jughead! I’m only wearing my underwear, I can’t go to the hospital like that.” she replied.

“Right, yes… uhhhh how can I help?” he asked nervously. 

“I don’t know, help me put on my clothes? And maybe like a bra or something.” she said sarcastically. Jughead nodded and lifted up her jeans from the side, he helped her put it on, his hands occasionally brushing her wet skin. Betty could feel her stomach flutter when his hands touched her upper thigh and she hated herself for it. He zipped it up and looked at her bra with a sigh, Betty stared at him and she would’ve laughed at his expression if her arm didn’t hurt so much 

He cleared his throat. “How do I put this on you?” 

“I think the easiest way is if you stand behind me and put it on from there. You just need to help me get it through my left arm and then clasp it together.” she said. 

“Well, put down your towel.” he said talking about the one she was using to cover her chest. She threw it onto the side of the bathtub and lifted her right arm. When Jughead leaned over to get the strap over her left arm, he glanced down for just a split second but saw enough to make him feel more aroused. He got the bra on eventually, needing to brush away her hair to the front. it revealed a faint scar from her stitches that she got when they were eight. 

They were dancing and messing around in their swimsuits in the front yard of her house. Chic joined and he turned on the sprinkler as he kicked a rubber ball around. Betty’s now ex-neighbor hastily got out of his house with a walking stick and started pointing it at them, telling them to stop making so much noise. Betty, who’s attention was on him , stepped on Chic’s rolling ball and she fell, the lower part of her neck skid against the rocks holding up their house plants. It wasn’t supposed to be bad but she tried to hide it from her mom which obviously failed in the end and it got worse because of the dirt stuck inside. Jughead waited outside the emergency room as she got her stitches, he knew she was strong and would be able to brave through it but he was still nervous for her. 

After five minutes of awkward movement, Betty finally got her shirt on and Jughead quickly tied her wet hair into a bun before they walked downstairs,

“We can’t take the bike with your arm. I could drive the car?” he suggested as he wrapped a picnic blanket around her neck and arm. “Where’s the key?” he asked.

“Ummm… uhhhh, I shockingly don’t know” she admitted with an apologetic smile. “But I can pick the lock, well only the outside one but dad keeps a box inside the car with an extra key so we can start the engine with that. We just need to open the door.” she said as she went over to the sofa, picking up two pins.

Jughead grabbed the house keys and slid it into his pocket and he put his back over his shoulders and they closed the door behind them. “Will you be able to do that with your arm though?” he asked.

“Jug, my good arm is my right arm and my right arm is definitely in better condition than my left arm so I’d say we’re good to go.” she said as she knelt down and started clumsily moving a pin. She put the second pin between her teeth and started digging through the lock with her right hand also moving. There was a click and Betty stood up, putting the pins in her jean’s pocket. 

“Wow, eleven seconds.” he said, impressed, as he looked at his watch.

“You timed me?” she muttered as he helped her open the door. He chuckled and helped her put on the seatbelt before walking around to the driver’s seat. 

“Where’s your dad’s box?” he said as he peered over the front seats into the back. 

She laughed “It’s under your seat, goof.” 

He bent down and opened the box, indeed revealing an extra key. He turned on the engine and even though he hasn’t driven a car since he got his license almost a year ago, he drove seamlessly and they got to the hospital within minutes. Jughead helped her out and they quickly walked to the entrance, Betty flinched as she walked over. 

“Hello.” Jughead said to the lady at the front. She looked up.

“How may I help?” she asked, pushing her glassed up to look at Betty.

“I slipped in the bathroom, my arm got caught on a shelf and it hurts like hell, I could start crying. I don’t know what’s wrong.” Betty said as she put her right hand on the desk. 

“Name?” she asked sweetly

“Betty Cooper.” she said. The lady, who Jughead knew as Maddie after reading her name tag, pressed a couple of buttons on the phone and told them to wait by the chairs. 

Jughead started to get impatient after five minutes. “Can’t they tell you’re clearly in pain, I bet if we came by the ambulance, they would give you immediate attention.” He muttered to Betty. She laughed even though she felt like her arm was going to fall off. Jughead tried to lighten the mood by telling jokes and Betty giggled at how bad they were. 

“Betty? Betty Cooper?” a nurse shouted into the waiting room. Jughead darted up and reached for Betty’s hand. The nurse saw them and motioned for them to follow her. 

“Are you family?” she asked Jughead and he shook his head. “Sorry, family only at the moment. Where are your parents?” she said as she helped Betty onto the bed. 

“Out of town for a business trip, Jughead is basically family, could he stay?” Betty said as she held onto his hand tighter. 

“Sorry miss, we’ll be quick though and you’ll be able to see your lover in minutes.” another nurse holding a clipboard said. 

“Oh, no, no. We aren’t a couple.” Betty said. But we could be, Jughead thought to himself and was shocked that it even came across his mind. 

“I’ll just be outside, Betts.” he said as a doctor came in and the first nurse ushered him out. 

He stood behind the curtains, partly eavesdropping but then stopped when a doctor walked past him and looked at him strangely. He turned on his phone and texted his dad, saying he’d be home late. The curtains were drawn open again and Betty was slowly getting off the bed. 

“Well, it seems like she has a dislocated shoulder, it is in a fairly weird shape. And judging from what she told us about the fall, it could also be a broken arm. We’ll get it x-rayed now to check, but she’s a trooper this one.” Doctor Whitfield said and Jughead watched as Betty got onto the stretcher. 

“No chance I’m allowed in right?” he asked and they all shook their heads.

“Sorry, not even family is allowed. We’ll keep you updated as soon as we find something, you could sit outside the room that way if there’s any information, you’ll be the first to know.” One nurse said. He followed them as they wheeled Betty into another corridor. 

Betty pinched Jughead with her right hand and he looked down at her. 

“Could you call Veronica? She’ll know what to do if you just tell her I’m at the hospital.” she said in a low whisper. He could tell she was in pain and wished it was him that fell and not her. 

“Yes, I will. Should I do it now or wait till I hear the results from the x-ray.” he said

“It’s your call. But I don’t want to worry her. And don’t call my parents! I don’t want to disrupt their work.” Betty replied, her green eyes looked worriedly up at his and Jughead nodded assuringly. 

It was silent in the corridor so they both stopped talking. The nurse’s pointed to the chairs and said that they would just be in the room across and Jughead nodded, squeezing Betty’s hand before letting go. 

“Do you want me to call Archie?” he asked as the nurses opened the door for her MRI. 

“No, don’t call him!” she said and with that, the door shut behind and Jughead pursed his lips. 

Around 73 minutes later- but what seemed like forever to Jughead - the doors burst open and another doctor in a green cloak this time came out. 

“You’re Jug-head?” he asked him. Jughead looked around, nobody was there and if it weren’t a doctor and this wasn’t serious, he would’ve laughed at the question.

“Yes. Is there news about Betty?” Jughead said warily. 

“There is. I’m Doctor Johnson.” he said. 

“Hello, Doctor Johnson.” Jughead replied quickly wanting him to get on with it. 

“Do you want the good news first or the slightly worse news?” Doctor Johnson said, as if it really mattered.

Jughead considered it for two seconds. “The good news.” 

The doctor nodded. “So after all the scans, I can say that Betty has a broken arm. It’s not too bad, it may just need a cast and some rest. In her case, it could take as long as 8 weeks in a cast, which is already very good. It’s most likely that she won’t need a surgery for it but she’ll have to come in for checkups every once in a while to see if it’s healing, it’ll be in a cast and she won’t be able to do sports. She tells me she’s right handed so she’ll have no trouble with writing and all the exams and everything.” 

“Okay… that doesn’t seem like good news to me. Should I ask what the other news is?” Jughead gulped. 

“Well the other part is a bit complicated. She has a dislocated shoulder. The shoulder is one of the easiest joints to dislocate just because the ball joint of the upper arm sits in a very shallow socket. It is probably what’s causing all the pain, surgery is not needed but it is much more painful. There might be a small procedure, today, if she wants it and it’ll just place the shoulder back in place. After that it will still have to sit in a sling for a week or two, once it’s taken off, it could take maybe 9 weeks to heal completely. She will still be able to do regular activities, just not a lot of sports soon. I’m aware that her parents are out of town? She’s almost 18 and this isn’t a proper surgery so we’ll just go on with it as she requested, maybe you could tell her parents.” he finally ended.

Jughead nodded slowly taking all the information in. If Betty chose to do the procedure then he wouldn’t get in the way of it. After a moment, he sighed and Doctor Johnson smiled at him.

“After all that talking, the doctors have probably finished the procedure. There’s a possibility that she’s about to be wheeled in a bedroom in about 4 minutes.” He said with a grin.

Jughead must’ve looked shocked because Doctor Johnson laughed and shook his head. “Betty wanted to do the procedure first without telling you so you wouldn’t worry. Have you called her friend? Veronica? Maybe you should wait for her before going in. Betty will be in room 518 so take the elevator to the fifth floor and turn right.”

Doctor Johnson left with a wave and Jughead walked back to the entrance, waiting for Veronica who said Smithers was caught in traffic. 

“Oh my gosh, Jughead!” Veronica said as she rushed through the automatic doors, immediately spotting him slouching against the wall. She put an arm around his shoulder and patted, it wasn’t really a hug, they hadn’t gotten that intimate yet despite him now sitting with her (and Archie) at lunch whenever Betty was around. 

“Betty is probably already in her room, or at least that’s what the doctor said.” Jughead clarified as they got on the lift. When they reached the fifth floor, the both of them scoured the room numbers and looked at each other with a smile when they found the room. Veronica knocked softly before opening it and Betty sat on her bed in a hospital gown with at least three different things around her left arm. 

“B!” Veronica cried in relief as she ran up to her best friend. She stared awkwardly at her, deciding which way would be the best to hug her. “When Jughead called, I was so worried!” she said softly into Betty’s hair. 

“Thanks, V. for coming.” Betty replied. Jughead slowly walked over to the two of them and Veronica pulled away. 

Jughead realised she was wearing a sling and a cast. “How’s your arm?” 

“Could be better.” she joked back. “Thanks for dressing me, I never got to say it but it would’ve been real weird if I showed up without clothes.” she added forgetting that Veronica was still in the room. Betty quickly looked over and Veronica winked at her. 

Betty cleared her throat. “Um, Jug? Could Veronica and I have a word. Maybe you wanna check if there’s food around, I sorta disturbed your meal with all this.” she said and Jughead stood up to leave even though he didn’t have an appetite. 

“I’ll find you once we’re done!” Veronica called out as he opened the door. As soon as it shut, Veronica looked at Betty with wide eyes. “He dressed you!?” she whisper-shouted. 

“Gosh V, not in a dirty way. I slipped as I was putting on my clothes after my shower.” Betty said

“You don’t come to school for three days and suddenly Jughead is your boyfriend?” 

Betty rolled her eyes in disbelief. “What are you talking about?” she chuckled, since the Thursday, she couldn’t really explain her feelings for him. “Archie is still my boyfriend.” 

“Well it doesn’t seem like it, where is he now?” Veronica said, flailing her hands around trying to emphasise the empty room. 

“I told Jug I didn’t want him to know yet so he didn’t call him. I just don’t really want to explain why Jughead was there and y’know… the dressing me thing. Archie has something against Jughead and I don’t want it to get worse.” Betty sighed. “Sooner or later he’ll make me choose between the two of them!” she said, it was supposed to be a joke but when it came out of her mouth she knew it would come eventually. 

Veronica bit her lip before speaking again. “And? Which one would you choose?” she asked.

“What! V. I wouldn’t, I can’t.” Betty said but she played out an image in her head and decided that if they were both calling for help, she would save Jughead without thinking twice. 

“I understand why Archie might have something against Jughead.” Veronica said slowly.

Betty looked at her waiting for her to say, just kidding, or something like that, she didn’t. “Are you siding with him? I thought you were my best friend not Archie’s.” 

“Well no, of course not. But I think Archie’s just jealous about your relationship with Jughead. Aside from the fact that you guys have been THE closest of friends since you were four, your mom basically thinks of him as her second son and he shares the same hobbies as you...” she paused to swallow. “He is also quite hot. And maybe Archie is a little intimidated. You gotta admit Jughead is no longer that stick thin, gawky kid you befriended as an innocent little girl. His dark curly hair and ocean-y blue eyes are enough to make any girl swoon. I’ve seen girls eye him like he’s candy. He’s hot. Fullstop. Even if it’s without all the muscles like Archie” Veronica said and she realised she was holding Betty’s free arm tight. 

Betty couldn’t help herself. “He does have muscles, a little less obvious but it’s there.” 

“See? He comes back and you’re instantly spending all your time with him. You’ve seen him topless, and he’s seen you, I can only assume… you haven’t-you haven’t… kissed or-or done anything to cheat on Archie right?” Veronica said falling over her words at the end. 

“No! No! I don’t have romantic feelings for Jughead, we haven’t done anything like that. My heart still belongs to Archie.” Betty quickly replied. If thursday didn’t count then she wasn’t lying.

Veronica looked at her with her eyebrows raised. 

Betty buried her face in her right arm and sigh at the conversation they had. “What, you don’t believe me?” she said and Veronica stifled out a laugh.

“B, you know how I feel about your relationship with Archie, I love him but he’s not really right for you, you give too much and he gives nothing in return. If you really must ask, I don’t believe you. I think you and Jughead are meant for each other, it hasn’t crossed my mind in three years but now he’s back.” Veronica said. Betty wanted to be annoyed but couldn’t find it in her to get mad at her. 

Betty exhaled loudly. “Jeez, you’re like my mom.” and Veronica laughed at that. They moved onto another topic but Betty still thought about what Veronica said in her head, when has her best friend ever been wrong? Jughead came back into the room when Veronica called him and it was a bit weird because he felt like she wanted to say something but never did. 

Betty stayed overnight at the hospital, Jughead ended up going back to her house and cooking something before bringing to her at nine. He wanted to stay with her but she insisted he go home and get ready for school. 

“I’ll text you when I get an update. I’ll also tell Archie not to pick me up tomorrow… can you call my parents for me? please?” Betty said as he was getting ready to leave. If it were anyone else, Jughead would’ve said no to calling the parents but he knew she would rather they hear it from him than her, so he nodded. 

Betty was admitted out of the hospital in two days afterwards, her parents obviously came as soon as they heard in spite of Betty’s protest for them to finish work first. They babied her every chance they got, Betty rarely left her bed at all that week, Jughead had to do the Spanish tutoring himself because she just got out of the hospital that day and her parents basically put her on house arrest. Jughead went to visit her after his tutoring, with warm chicken soup he carried for three hours, he stayed for dinner and only left the house after four hours of Blue and Gold work. On Friday Jughead visited again after school, her parents enjoyed his company and they all sat on the couch watching horror movies together after dinner, Alice was the first to fall asleep and then it was Hal. Betty and Jughead crept off the sofa quietly so that they wouldn’t wake them. 

“It’s late, it’ll be too dangerous to drive home in the dark. Stay over, you can pull out that mattress from under the bed and we could put a clean sheet on it.” she said to Jughead in a low voice as they walked away. 

Jughead grinned. “And we’ll throw pillows at one another and play with our imaginary pigs?” he said reminding her of their late nights talking well into sunrise, he never got tired of listening to her speak, she spoke a lot and he was glad because he didn’t really. When they just started being friends, Jughead found it awkward and uncomfortable, he always hoped that she would start the conversation as it came so easily to her and once she started talking, they wouldn’t stop until he had to leave. Even with their mouths full of spaghetti during friday night dinners. Even when Jughead used her bathroom, she would stand outside with her face pressed against the door and spoke a little louder. 

They walked into her bedroom door and he pulled out the mattress. Betty smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry, correction, YOU could put a clean sheet on it.” as she took one out from her cupboard. She was thankful that she already showered in the afternoon with some help from her mom so that there wouldn’t need to be another compromising dress and undress situation again. Betty went into Chic’s room and took out sweatpants and boxers, handing it to Jughead so that he could shower and change. 

“Do you sleep with a shirt? I could get one from dad’s room, mom donated all of Chic’s shirts that he didn’t take with him to New York.” Betty said as she pulled out a clean towel. 

“Nah I’ll be fine without a shirt.” He replied.

Betty looked at him with pouted lips “You sure? It’s cold. Even with the heater and covers.” 

“I’m sure. And if I get cold, I’ll just creep in your bed and share your body warmth,” and he closed the door with a wink. Betty didn’t know if he was flirting or if she were just imagining things, either way it made her nervous and tingly. As soon as Jughead turned on the tap, he smacked himself on the head for doing something that dumb, she was probably judging him on the other side of the wall. 

He got out of the bathroom in less than ten minutes and Betty wondered how boys showered so quickly. He watched Betty, her right hand struggling to flip the page of a book she was reading, her hair was down and it was the longest he saw it not in a ponytail, she was wearing a fuzzy sweater that went down to mid thighs and though he knew she was wearing shorts underneath, it didn’t seem like it and he gazed at her long legs that went on for miles. She caught his eyes and allowed herself to skim over his topless chest, it was even better in the light she thought to herself and quickly looked down embarrassed at her thought. 

Jughead closed the bathroom door and walked over to her vanity, putting down his own clothes. He hadn’t bothered to dry his hair and Betty liked the way it made his hair even more curly. 

Betty made an involuntary sound as she trekked through the lines on his body, she quickly covered it with a cough when Jughead looked at her strangely. “Now, could you please stop staring at my legs.” 

“Only if you stop staring at my chest.” he retorted and Betty turned red, again. He was right, she did blush a lot around him. ‘Nice save’ he complimented himself in his mind. Betty put the book down and walked over to the light switch, waiting for Jughead to get on his bed. He pulled the covers over himself and she turned on the heater before switching the lights off. 

They both stared up at her ceiling, Jughead shifted onto his right arm and looked up. “Remember when we used to tell each other’s future. We’d hold hands, my hand always got tired because you were pulling it up and then you’d offer to share your bed.” 

Betty moved to the left side of her bed so she could be closer to him. “Yeah, you always pretended to read my palm lines.” 

“Pretend?” Jughead said. “No, no, Betty. It was all real.” he said with a chuckle

Betty twisted her hair in her finger. “You’d tell me that I had a very long life line and it showed that I’d go skydiving one day. And guess what, I haven’t gone skydiving yet and I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m not too sure about the long life thing now.” 

“One day I’ll take you skydiving. So that we can finally agree that I am a better fortune teller than you.” Jughead replied. “In fact, I’ll read your fortune now.” and he lifted up his arm. Betty sat up a little and moved to give him her right arm. He grabbed it and moved his fingers around her palm and she giggled. 

“Jug, that tickles.” she said softly, but he didn’t stop. “Okay, what have you got?” she said after a minute.

Jughead pushed his front curl back “You might need to answer some questions first for this to work.” and Betty nodded.

“What school do you want to study at for college?” he said mocking an adult’s voice. 

“Uhhh, well the best schools for studying English would be Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford. I haven’t decided yet though.” she said finally

“Which one do you want to get into most?” he asked, still holding onto her wrist.

“Harvard. England is too far from home.” she said

“And your second choice?” 

“Yale.” 

“That wasn’t even in your first four but that’s okay. Now tell me, what is the first thing you’ll do when you’re 18.” 

“What kind of questions are these, Jug? You’re not qualified, maybe I should tell your fortune.” she said. “You might need to answer some questions first for this to work.” she said imitating him. 

“Okay go ahead. Will you read my palm?” he mused.

“No, I’m reading your mind. It’s better and more accurate.” she laughed and he snorted. It was silent for a minute before Betty cleared her throat. “So you’re thinking about the love of your life… whether he or she knows you exist yet or not, you will be married in five or six years.” she said, making it up as she went. Jughead wanted to say that he was thinking about her and not the love of his life but didn’t want to interrupt her little speech. “You want children… your mind is saying one but your body language is saying three… and you want to wash your motorbike soon.” she concluded and then flopped her head back on her pillow. 

“Okay, you’re right about the motorbike. But only about that.” he said 

Betty yawned “Whatever you say Juggie. You just don’t wanna admit that I’m a better fortune teller.”

He chortled quietly. “Goodnight, Betts.” 

“Goodnight.” she said as she drifted off to sleep. Jughead lay awake for an hour more, listening to the sound of her breathing. 

Betty woke up at 9 and immediately looked over her bed to find an empty mattress, she quickly rinsed her face before walking down to the kitchen. Jughead’s back was facing her and he seemed to be making pancakes, as he flipped them, he did a little dance and Betty laughed a little too loud and blew her cover. 

“You saw nothing.” Jughead warned as he turned around. “But good morning.” He hadn’t put on a shirt and his entire body glowed in the natural sunlight. He smiled smugly “You like what you’re seeing?” motioning to his body with one hand before hastily turning back to the frying pan.

“I like the look of the pancakes.” she said pulling out a chair, she turned on her phone and read Veronica’s rant that she texted her at 1am. “Do you want some help? I can’t do too much with one hand but you only really NEED three to cook.” she offered. 

“Sure, maybe with the frying? I’m gonna cut the fruits.” Betty shrugged and walked over to get the frying pan, shaking it gently. A knock came and two seconds later the doorbell rang, Betty’s parents woke up and rubbed their eyes at the sound. Alice scrambled off the couch and looked at her watch and Hal stayed there motionless. 

“Great, the parents are up.”

Jughead put down the strawberry in his hand “I’ll get the door.” Alice stared at Jughead, confused but then quickly smiled at him realising that Betty told him to stay over. He opened the door and was shocked to find Archie standing in front of him, texting. 

Jughead cleared his throat. “Archie.” 

Archie looked up and his smile faltered at the sight of topless Jughead. “You’re not Betty.” 

“No, my hair is far too dark.” he replied simply.

Archie scoffed and put his phone in his back pocket. “Where’s you shirt.” it wasn’t a question but Jughead replied anyways. 

“The dryer.” it wasn’t a lie, at 3am he soaked his shirt in detergent, hung it up and when he woke up he put it in the dryer. 

Archie stepped forwards. “I’m here to see Betty.” 

“Yeah, I’ve gathered that much. Let me see if she’s ready.” Jughead said, holding his arm in front of him stopping Archie. 

Archie rolled his eyes. “Ready for what. I’m her boyfriend, I should be the one checking if she’s ready to see you.” 

Betty turned off the fire and walked towards the door with the frying pan and pancake. “Who is it, Jug?” she said and stood still when she saw the infamous red hair. 

“Betty. What’s Jughead doing here?” Archie said pushing past Jughead. Jughead stumbled backwards and Betty instinctively put an arm behind him to help. 

“He stayed the night. It got too late for him to go home yesterday so... Maybe you want to come in for breakfast? Jughead started making pancakes for everyone.” Betty said as she turned back to Archie. 

He took the pan from her hand and shoved it into Jughead’s grip before pulling her by her right arm to the stairs. “I don’t know why he’s here or why he isn’t wearing a shirt but I’ll forget about Jughead just for a while because I came to see if your arm was getting better.” He pulled her into a hug trying to avoid hitting her left arm. 

“You dropped by on your way to music for me? That’s sweet.” She placed a kiss on his lips. “My arm hurts less, I’ll be back at school on Monday.” 

He rubbed her back “Yeah? Okay. Pack light so I can carry your bag too” Betty smiled and kissed his cheek, Jughead was already in the kitchen with the pancakes but he didn’t miss her kissing Archie and his heart ached a little. 

“I have to go now, Miles won’t wait.” he said as he swung her hands, walking towards the door. Betty smiled and nodded, she missed Archie but she also knew what Miles (his guitar ‘teacher’) was like. He blew her a kiss as he got back into the car and then he was gone.

Betty went back into her kitchen where Hal was already indulging in his pancakes, Jughead glanced up and gave her a plate but he seemed a bit off and Betty hoped Archie’s arrival wasn’t the reason why. Still, it was the same, as if Archie hadn’t shown up at all, they went to the office and had lunch together before Jughead went back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates might be even slower (as if it isn't slow enough already, sorry) because I'm starting school this week. I'll still try to post regularly like I'm doing right now but I won't be spending as much time as I am on this as I'd like to, I never realised how many words you'd need to fit a whole screen. Again, thanks to everyone who has read this :))


	9. viii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for slow update!!! This is sort of a filler chapter and not too long... apologies for that as well. I'll be posting the next chapter ASAP and it'll probably be within the next week hopefully. It's much longer and also more fun so I'm excited for you to read that one.

Betty looked at their most recent newspaper and smiled with satisfaction. “I can’t meet after school tomorrow Jug, I need to go to the hospital for a checkup and to get this sling removed.”

“Oh, okay. Do you want me to take you?” he offered

“Are you free?”

Jughead grinned and turned on his phone. “Hmmm let me check my calendar.” and then looked up at Betty. “It says I have a Blue and Gold meeting but unfortunately my partner cancelled for some boring appointment, which clears out my schedule. I’m free as can be.”

“It won’t be boring now that you’re coming.” Betty said with a wink which she regretted instantly. She laughed and buried her face in her palms.

“Anyways. You’re not gonna ask Archie to take you?” Jughead asked cautiously, he was already on his bad side and didn’t want to make the situation worse.

Betty shrugged. “Well you offered, he’ll be glad when I tell him he can go to that party with Reggie.”

“Do they ever get sick of partying at the same place every week.”

“I know!” Betty agreed. They stacked the fresh printed newspapers in rows so it would be easy to handout, he put them down randomly and Betty would send him glares and he’d smile before tidying it. She put her post it notes on top, each with the form room and a small smiley face in the corner, Jughead could tell clearly which drawing was his. He laughed at her earlier when she drew them and questioned it, her reply was that it made her happy and Jughead didn’t object, she told him he needed to try and forced the pen into his hand. Betty and Jughead were the only two people that were ever in the Blue and Gold office, occasionally Veronica or Archie would go in to wait for Betty but that was it. The room was starting to feel like their own, not some abandoned office that was dusty and depressing. Betty limited it to three knick knacks and three trinkets each but they broke the rule after the first month. She had a frog trinket box that she got from walmart at the shopping mall, they hid important leads on cases in it but also paperclips. Jughead laughed at the idea at first but he started getting used to it, they named her Mazie. The chalkboard wasn’t really used for planning or mind-mapping as Betty intended, they played hangman, made bets and kept score, whoever had more by the end of the month could choose where to eat and the loser would have to pay. Betty won for two months but Jughead couldn’t afford the dinner she chose, so she ended up paying.

“As much as I’d like to take the motorbike, I can’t with the sling. You can drive dad’s car?” Betty suggested. Her phone buzzed and she turned it on to check the text “Also can V come?”

“Uhh yeah and yeah.” Jughead said as he put away Betty’s stack of post it notes.

Betty showed Jughead her chat “Veronica says since I missed a couple of friday sleepovers, this one is non-refundable and she needs to make sure I won’t cancel on her again.”

He nodded and put away his pens, Betty tucked in the chairs and they took a stack of newspapers each. She struggled a bit, only being able to use one arm so he took her stack as well and she smiled sheepishly at her. School was well over at least an hour ago, all the could hear was the distant sound of the janitors humming along to music. The first semester was almost over, Jughead thought it was better than the ones he had in the past six years. Things with Betty weren’t the same, they were no longer the same kids that baked their own cookies, made bets and asked other people to try them, whoever had the most liked cookies would get it their way. It solved many problems, such as who got to keep the amethyst rocks they found by the river, who would lie to Chic about taking his binoculars, who got to sit in the front for kayaking, who got to choose which side to sit on a rollercoaster. And other important things. Jughead’s feelings for her definitely changed from his closest friend in the universe to the girl he could be obsessed with forever, he tried to stop thinking about her like that, after all there was Archie but his feelings towards her would never be the same.

They had a list of all the form rooms at school, Betty organised it by floor and not grades so that they could be more systematic. She started whistling Christmas carols and Jughead joined in after a while, harmonizing as well which made the both of them laugh. He put down the newspapers on the teacher’s desk whilst Betty wrote different Christmas quotes in calligraphy, something she did in fifth grade and never lost touch of. In less than half an hour, they finished distributing the newspaper and walked out the school. Alice was parked outside, texting and didn’t notice Jughead, he quietly said goodbye to Betty so that her mom wouldn’t insist on driving him home as well, he was scared that his motorbike that was parked right by the side of a lamp post behind the school because he couldn’t find any available spaces, would be trashed or stolen.

The next morning Betty told Archie not to drive her to school because she was running a bit late and Jughead walked over to drive her dad’s car. She still didn’t have a permit although she was thinking about taking lessons before college. After school, Veronica was the first one waiting at Betty’s car, she was slumped against the front door playing with her necklace when Jughead cleared his throat behind her.

“Jughead.” Veronica nodded.

“Veronica” he replied awkwardly. “I don’t have the keys, Betty does.”

“She’ll take a while.” Veronica clasped the necklace on.

“She has Spanish.” They added at the exact same time. Betty ran over and patted the both of them on their shoulders before unlocking the door. She sat at the back with Veronica whilst Jughead drove, he was eavesdropping to their conversation but it was hard to make out some words over the music that was playing. They arrived at the hospital and Veronica checked them in and in a minute, Betty was in a room that neither of them were allowed inside of.

Veronica looked over at Jughead who was starting to open his computer. “I heard Betty got that for you.”

“Yeah, for my birthday.” he replied, turning his own head to look at her.

“I know, I was with her when she got it. The ‘heard’ part was an understatement, it was supposed to be casual, but I’ve blown it anyways so now I’m gonna say what I want to say and you’re not going to interrupt me.”

Jughead turned off the ipad “Wha-”

She glared at him and put her hand over his mouth. “I just said, no interruptions!” and Jughead nodded, shrugging off her arm. “I don’t know what you’re getting at with her… and before you tell me I sound like Archie, this is actually the opposite. I think you and her would be great together, not just as chums or whatever you both are playing. I know you have feelings for her, I can tell by the way you look at her, this sounds corny, I don’t care. As her best friend, I want her to be happy.” and she paused to look at Jughead’s reaction, his eyebrows were up and she swallowed.

“Okay…” Jughead said in a low voice, really confused.

“That being said, Archie doesn’t make her happy, they always argue and he never wants to compromise or put her first. She doesn’t like him as much as she thinks. It’s a far jump she might tell me but I know her, and I know you. You could make her happy… so if you have feelings, and I know you do, then jump on them and tell her. You have my blessing.” Veronica leaned back in the chair and looked at the door with a blank expression, as if she didn’t just say what she did.

After a moment of silence, Jughead formed a sentence. “Thanks for the blessing… but she’s with Archie, I’m not going to do whatever you have in mind, that’s like the lowest of lows. You’re right, I do have feelings for her but I’m not going to mess up what we have right now, so we should just forget this conversation happened.”

Veronica nodded and they didn’t speak again until Betty came back out. The doctor removed her sling and the x-ray showed that the cast was working. Jughead picked up her bag and wondered why it was so heavy, probably full of binders and textbooks to prepare for the exam. He helped her bring it to the car and offered to drive them to Veronica’s house. He remembered where it was, it wasn’t easy to forget considering it was the grandest house he’d ever been in. The fact that she had a chef and a driver was always what made him avoid her, she never minded him and they did play together when they were four but even if she didn’t judge him, her parents would. Even if they never said anything, a little part of everyone resented him a little, everyone except for the Coopers. He dropped them off and Betty told him to meet her at her house at the same time on Sunday to walk to the office.

Veronica went straight up to her room as soon as they got through the door and Betty trailed after her. Veronica patted her bed, a silent permission to sit there for Betty and she took it. They watched netflix and talked about everything, all things besides from Jughead. Veronica knew he was just being respectful but she also knew what Betty wanted, if she said it was Archie then she’d have to be the supportive friend. They ordered Pop’s take away and once again fell asleep on her sofa in giggles. On Sunday, Betty and Jughead went to the office and Rosie made it very clear that she didn’t like his novel. The other higher level editors were sympathetic even though he hadn’t shown them yet, he figured they were just being kind after Rosie’s fit in front of the entire office.

A week later, Betty and Veronica were in the changing rooms for cheer practice. With her arm, she couldn’t do much and Cheryl said that she was only allowed to watch and help with choreography. It was a Thursday morning, they had a routine scheduled the next day and all the team showed up two hours before school started to slip in the sports hall and perfect the routine. Everyone was in their cheer uniform on the verge of falling asleep and nobody wanted to start. They all slowly started shuffling out and stretching in their own small groups.

Veronica, Betty, Midge and Josie get on the floor and start doing the splits. Josie sighs and rolls her eyes, Midge, the only one in the room that doesn’t look tired at all smiles happily at them.

“Five days until school ends!” she squeals, her eyes wide with joy. “And then five days until Christmas!”

Betty groans. “How can you be so excited for Christmas. I’m not.”

Veronica raises her eyebrows. “You aren’t? You were pretty pumped about it a week ago.”

“I was. But Chic and Polly might not leave New York until Christmas eve and my parents are going on some business trip and will be arriving on the day. I’m spending the days leading up to it, all alone, that’s the time you do decorations and stuff together.” Betty said with an aspirated sigh, as she changed positions. Cheryl came in and started yelling at all of them for not starting first.

At lunch Betty, Veronica and Jughead sat around the cafeteria table, Archie left the night before for an early holiday trip to New Zealand with his parents. It happened every break, he’d leave around a week before school actually ended and would come back the day it started again, it was fine before but now that it’s senior year, teachers started to email his parents about their concerns. Betty repeated her sadness and explained it in more depth to the two of them, Jughead was stuffing a hamburger in his mouth but he nodded to show he was listening.

“I would say you could stay over with me, your best friend, but daddy’s making us go to Hawaii to check out some business deal. Sorry, B.” Veronica said.

Betty shook her head as she put her fork into the salad. “No it’s fine, I have to prepare for the final exams anyways, that’s what I’ll be doing.”

Jughead put down his hamburger and wiped his mouth. “Studying? Come on, you don’t need to over work your brain, it’s Christmas! You can take some days off.”

“I agree with Jughead.” Veronica eyed him. “And… he’s not going on holiday either I assume, maybe the two of you could spend the break with each other.”

Jughead looked over at Betty and then at Veronica, yelling at her in his head for suggesting that.

As if Veronica knew what he was thinking she smiled back at him and stood up. “I forgot I had to do something, really urgent, I’ll be going now.” she picked up her tray. “You guys continue talking alright? B, I’ll see you tomorrow.” and she walked away. Betty watched her leave the cafeteria and then giggled at Jughead.

“She’s acting weird, forget what she said, we don’t need to spend the break together.” Betty said

“No.” Jughead replied, it surprised the both of them.

“No?”

Jughead nodded “We should do something, don’t be so boring.”

“You need to study too!” Betty took her water bottle out of her bag. “Aren’t you nervous?”

“I am but it isn’t the SAT or AP exams. And I already applied for the early admissions and scholarships.”

Betty slammed her hands on the table. “Jug! They can still withdraw the acceptance letters. But yeah I’ve also applied for early applications, I’m still going to send a couple more to my safety schools in January.”

“Okay, you’re doing so well and I’m sure your results from last year is enough to get you into Harvard. Just relax a little, we can decorate your house?” he suggested.

“Okay, fine. But Riverdale is so damn miserable. Nobody sells Christmas anything, the four shopping malls don’t even play carols.”

Jughead had a sudden idea “This might sound crazy but hear me out…” Betty nodded. “As soon as break starts, we could go down to Harmony Valley, it’s like New York as a tiny town.” Betty was expecting something completely different and stared at him unclearly.

“You mean, we leave Riverdale?” she said slowly.

“Well only for two days or so.” she gave him another unconvinced look. “There’s snow! And shopping malls, which sell Christmas things” he added.

“Even if I want to go, and I do.” she admitted. “Five days is not enough to get plane tickets, and plan a trip, and also there’s always that problem with money.”

Jughead thought about it. “We can just drive down there, with your car of course because we won’t be able to fit bags on the back of a motorbike. We both have money from interning and also my job at Bijou will be enough for a room and things if we split the price.”

“And the planning? That’s the hardest part.” Betty said, if he had a way to solve that problem she decided she would go.

“It doesn’t need to be planned. We can just drive down, no research beforehand, find some motel along the way, do touristy things on the pamphlets there, enjoy Christmas shopping and then drive back before Chic and Polly come.”

It seemed absurd, going away without any plans. Yet, Betty suddenly wanted to go, it would be a fun adventure and to do it with Jughead was a plus. She trusted him when they were seven and rode their bikes to Greendale and sat in tents with a bonfire and marshmallows, of course they didn’t stay there overnight but if she could do that then, why couldn’t she do it now? The car was safer anyways with a GPS, they had money as well and they were older, it was an obvious yes. She considered what her parents might say, normally it’d be a no straight away but with Jughead, there was a possibility that they’d allow her to go and even give them money for the trip.

Betty sighed, “Okay, I’m in.”

“Really? I half expected you to say no, are you sure?” Jughead asked.

“Are you trying to dissuade me now.”

“No, of course not. It’ll be fun!” Jughead said.

 -------------------------------------------------

Jughead was sitting on the couch half eating his dinner (plain spaghetti with peas) and half texting Betty. He waited for her reply as he took another mouthful and groaned in disgust of it’s plainness

_Me: Promise you won’t plan anything_  
_Betts: I promise_  
_Betts: you already made me promise three times before!_  
_Me: Yeah cuz I know you, and you’re the kind of person that would get too nervous and overplan things._  
_Betts: Whatever_  
_Betts: Take me to school on your motorbike tmr, pls._  
_Me: Ok._  
_Me: your house first, then mine_  
_Betts: mhmm, we’ve been over this at school. I’ll see you tomorrow, I need to re-pack._  
_Me: Repack?_  
_Betts: yeah so everything actually fits in the duffel._  
_Me: can’t you just randomly put in shirts tomorrow after school._  
_Betts: no way._  
_Betts: don’t tell me you haven’t packed anything_  
_Me: It’s not supposed to be planned!_  
_Betts: the trip. Your things should be! Go and pack your bag now._  
_Me: k then, night_  
_Betts is typing…_

He turned off his phone and dump it on the side, looking down at his bag. It wasn’t completely empty, he did start packing, telling her he hadn’t even started was supposed to freak her out. Everything was slayed across the floor and sofa, Fp wonders in and nods at him before walking into the kitchen. He was surprisingly hard to convince to allow him to go on the trip, your mom is coming this year. She never comes, not last year, not the year before, or the one before that. This year wouldn’t be any different especially since they’re back in Riverdale, he hasn’t seen her or Jellybean since they left three years ago, Fp claims that they keep contact when the truth is she only ever says anything when its his birthday.

 

“Have fun, you two!” Veronica said in a high pitch, insinuating that they were going to do things that weren’t what friends would do. Students were clawing their way out of the hall door, although the Christmas assembly was fun and the cheerleaders did the ‘Mean Girls’ performance, everyone was excited for the holidays. Jughead made the mistake of telling Veronica about the trip because all she talked about was how he and Betty would finally get it together. Betty was on the stage and watching patiently as the hall slowly got emptier, she just had a speech as senior president, she was nervous in the morning but as she spoke, the only person that seemed to be listening was Jughead and that eased her mind a little.

Veronica and Jughead walked through the crowd to get to the stage, they both got stuck somewhere in the middle and lost one another. Veronica made it to Betty and the two of them were playing Where’s Wally with Jughead. He sighed and looked down at his shoes, trying to walk quickly but being the unlucky person he was, he bumped right into a couple of guys from the football team.

The one Jughead stepped on, shoved him “Hey, punk!”

“Sorry.” Jughead muttered.

“What? I didn’t hear you?” he replied, though it was obvious that he did. Jughead wished it was Jason or Reggie, they were the only boys on the team that didn’t treat him like dirt, instead it was someone named Milton… or Mason. He held up a cup in his hand and tilted it over Jughead’s head. Jughead started to feel a cool liquid running over his beanie as he closed his eyes and tempted himself not to do anything to make the condition worse. Milton laughed and the other guys all gave him a victory high five, a smug look on all of their faces. Betty pointed at the scene and her and Veronica watched anxiously.

Jughead wiped the milkshake off his beanie but he knew it was pointless because it had already sunk right through. “I said I was sorry.”

Milton laughed childishly. “Oops! That was a mistake.”

“I fail to see how this could possibly be an accident.” Jughead shook his head. It was a bad decision on his behalf and he regretted the second it came out of his mouth. Milton breathed in deeply and scrunched up his nose, Jughead braced himself for another terrible thing, a fist to his jaw, another drink over his head, pushed to the ground. He was definitely spiralling.

Someone cleared their throat and Milton whipped his head to see who it was, Jughead sighed at the sight of Betty and Veronica. Betty came to his rescue once again just like when they were still in grade school.”This is low, even for you, Milton.” She said disapprovingly and Veronica nodded besides her, they crossed their arms over their chest in unison. “What would Archie think?” she said but she and Jughead knew that he would’ve loved to have been a part of this. Milton wanted to be captain of the team but Archie is a senior and he’s a year younger with less experience, he’s been sucking up to Archie ever since the year started so that he’d be captain once Archie was gone. Milton was fearful of him, Betty using Archie in the argument was the perfect way to get him to stop talking. He quickly apologised and made the guys standing behind him do the same.

“Don’t say sorry to me.” Betty yelled back, she pointed at Jughead. “Apologise to him.”

Milton looked between Betty and Jughead and she rolled her eyes. “Neither of us are leaving until you say it.” she demanded and Milton reluctantly repeated. She gestured them to the door and they walked away without a word.

Veronica looked at Betty with big eyes and a huge smile, her hands over her heart. “I’m so here for some badass Betty!” she cried enthusiastically.

Betty rolled her eyes and turned to Jughead, pulling off his beanie. “Are you okay? I mean obviously you aren’t but they didn’t punch you yet right? Did we get here too late? I saw his hands roll into fists.”

“I’m fine, just a little soaked. Thanks for saving me guys, I wish I could say I didn’t need it.” he looks at Betty and smiles at her. Veronica can feel herself grinning at the sweet moment.

“Well, enjoy your little getaway. Smithers is probably waiting. I’ll call you as soon as I’m back, B.” Veronica said as she refrained from squealing with delight. Betty pulls her in for a hug and Jughead nods goodbye as she walks to the exit.

Betty grabs her bag from her locker and they walk over to Jughead’s motorbike, now he has two helmets since Betty always goes on the bike, her one is pink and she loves that he went out of his way to get one for her. They drive over to her house and he helps her get off, the house is empty and she drags her two bags across the room. She may as well have been carrying a suitcase, it might’ve been lighter, her winter coat took up most of the space in the first duffel. Jughead wheels his motorbike through the front door and leaves it next to the kitchen door, just in case it snowed when they were out. He helps her carry the bags into the car before sitting in the driver’s seat, they play Betty’s only-Rihanna playlist to his place. Since Jughead came back, Betty hadn’t been to the new house, she knew where it was and what floor he was on but she’d never been inside.

Jughead left the car across the street and they walked towards the building. It was run down and looked as if it hadn’t been renovated in forty years, what was left of the paint looked burnt and the parts without paint, was actually burnt off. There was a gate at the front door but it was broken so all they had to do was push it a little, the front desk chair was empty after the last security guard robbed the couple living on the first floor and disappeared.

Jughead lead Betty to the stairs and she huffed. “Sorry Betts, we gotta walk to the sixth floor.” he started walking up and she tailed behind him.

“How do you do this everyday?” They were on the fourth floor, she was already out of breath.

Jughead grinned at her when they got to his floor. “To be honest, I’m not sure.” He put in the key and ushered her in. Her eyes went wide at the state of the room. There was a small sofa that took up half the living room, it was covered with crumbs and what she thinks is an alcohol stain. There was an open plan kitchen but it wasn’t like the ones she had seen on pinterest, dishes were piled on top of each other and she was sure that it was glass and would break easily. The floor was surprisingly clean and the room didn’t reek of anything which was an improvement from when they were eight.

“Home sweet home.” Jughead said as he carried out his bag from his room. “Look, I think I need to shower and quickly wash this beanie and my clothes-”

Betty nodded. “I agree.”

He motioned for her to follow him and took her to the corridor. “This is dad’s room, don’t go in, we have no idea what lies beyond the door.” Jughead walked two steps. “And this is my room.” He took clothes from a pile of unfolded laundry. “I know you’re fretting over the plates in the kitchen. Do not worry, they’re plastic and all clean. As well as everything else in the kitchen,”

Betty smiled. “You do know me.” she said softly.

“Yes. Now, I’ll be quick. You can look around or something in the meantime, I know you’re curious.” He said as he walked out and into the bathroom. Betty sighed and looked at his room, it was similar to his childhood one. A mattress and no bed frame, second hand comics (the only kind he could afford), headphones that probably came from the $5 store, a small desk with only two textbooks and a single pencil on it. A crappy wardrobe with DIY shelves, all filled with action figures, picture albums, old notebooks, and boxes. Betty smiled at the figurine she was holding between her fingers, it came with a cereal she bought and she gave it to him as a joke gift on Christmas. She placed the toy back on and pulled out a box, opening the lid. It was all his report cards and writing assessments, his English was already amazing at age seven. She slid it back where it was and took out the box next to it, it was significantly bigger and she brought it over to his mattress. She sat cross legged on the floor next to it and dusted the box before putting it on the edge of the bed, she peered in curiously and saw many papers, at least thirty pages were in there. Betty put her arm in and took out the first one she saw, her eyes stopped as she read, Dear Juggie. It was one of the letters she had written him, she knew because of the content and the obvious tear mark. She took them out one by one until she could no longer recognize her own handwriting and instead of ‘Lots of love, Betty’ it was ‘Miss you, Jug’. She took out his letters and pieced together what she had, realising that it was letters he wrote but never sent. She looked for the most recent date and her heart skipped a beat when she realised that it was written a week before school had started. There were at least forty in total and it took her a second to understand that he had written letters but just never sent them, so her giving him shit about not replying was possibly the worst thing she had ever done to him. She found the earliest date and put the other letters down, wanting to read them all.

_Dear Betty,_

_This is the 35th letter, if I’m any good at counting, and I know that 35 is your favorite number. This note won’t be very upbeat, like many of my other ones, my parents have split up. I don’t know if they’re legally divorced now but it sure seems like it. Mom has taken Jellybean, she left me with dad. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad? Dad is devastated, he’s drinking even more now. It’s been a week since they left, it was in the middle of the night and mom left a note next to my lamp, she didn’t even bother to say a proper goodbye. Dad didn’t know about it either, he came back from his night shift at the bar and she was gone, I was asleep so I had no idea and it took us an hour to realise that she had taken Jellybean as well I Dad says that they are in a very loving condition but I’ve tried calling her and he has too, she won’t pick up. I hate that she left, I hate that she took Jellybean, I hate that I didn’t even know there were problems. Dad is unstable, I could drop out of school soon if he doesn’t pay, we could go homeless if he won’t go to work. And mom doesn’t care about me at all, she never did and it took me 14 years to figure that out. I’m ending this letter short, I’ll keep you updated but that’s the situation at the moment. I wish you were here with me, I think that everyday but I mean it even more today. You would understand, and you’re the only one that could make me feel better._

_Miss you, Jug. 15/08_

Betty slowly dropped her arms onto her lap and shut her eyes, remembering the argument from the first day, ‘I told you, it was hard, I had my reasons.’ She should’ve known then that something was wrong, instead of crying about her own tiny problems. It broke her heart to see that there were so many letters that she never got to reply to, he needed her and she wasn’t there for him. A tear slid down her cheek, she didn’t brush it away, instead she folded the page and put it back in the box. Jughead came out of the bathroom and walked into his room, surprised to find Betty on the floor.

“Wha-” he said as he stepped towards her, stopping as he saw the box next to her. “Oh…”

Betty stood up and held the rest of his letters. “Jug, why didn’t- you tell me” her voice breaking.

“I wanted to. I did.” he said motioning to the papers. “I wished I had it in me to send all those but I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.”

“That’s what friends are for, Juggie.” she almost yelled, she had no idea why she was mad. “So everything about how Jellybean is still in New York for boarding school and your mom waiting there with her till high school, is just a lie?” no, she wasn’t mad, she was upset but it sounded like she was mad,

“Yes, it is a lie. I mean they could be in New York but I wouldn’t know, we haven’t spoken since the day they left.” he dabbed a tissue under her eyes.

They stand perfectly still, only five centimeters between each other and there wasn’t a single sound. Betty breathed in “Oh my God… okay give me time to process. Why didn’t you just tell me the first day when I was getting mad at you, that you did write letters?”

“You wouldn’t believe me. And I didn’t want you finding out that way… or this way.” He replied.

“You kept it from me for three years. If I didn’t read these today, how much longer would you have waited before you said anything.”

Jughead couldn’t think of a reasonable answer. “The point is, I’d tell you eventually. Once we got on better terms.”

“I thought we were on great terms, it was like you never left, but apparently not.”

He sighed and pulled the paper out of her hands before wrapping his arms around her. “We are on really, really good terms. I’m sorry I lied to you, I should’ve told you the first day or sent all these letters. I really am sorry, please forgive me.” he said, staring into her green eyes. She put her head against his neck and nodded.

“Don’t apologise, I should be the one saying I’m sorry. I only thought about myself and I should’ve known that you wouldn’t just stop replying to my letters, after being with you for eight years or so. I want you to be able to tell me these kinds of things.”

“And I’m sorry I didn’t think to tell you sooner, you deserved to know.” he said as she moved back.

“No, but if there is something important, then I’d like to be amongst the first to know. Also I’m definitely taking those.” Betty reached to take all the letters out of his hand, and he chuckled in response.

“So we’re good now?” and she nodded. “Then let’s go, it’s a two hour drive.”

He dragged the bag down all the stairs, Betty told him that he should just carry it since it was ruining the bag but he didn’t listen. They got on the car but neither of them knew how to turn on the GPS, Jughead started pressing random buttons and only made it worse. Betty texted her dad asking for help and they waited for his reply whilst the aircon was on full power and the windshield wipers rapidly wiped nothing. Eventually Jughead searched up how to fix the problem and the GPS started to give direction. Betty watched as the trees passed and they left Riverdale onto the highway, there was no traffic but there were a couple of cars on the road.

After the first thirty minutes, Betty took out a bag of popcorn. “Do you want some?” Jughead opened his mouth and she put a piece inside. They played truth or dare but it was pretty much pointless as they knew everything about each other already and dares on the road weren’t easy. She’d been to Harmony Valley once before with Veronica and her parents, the summer Chic went for college tours and her own parents took Polly with them as well but not her. Jughead has never been before, he’d seen pictures on the internet and Fp used to tell him stories about his adventures there when he was a kid. He was glad that Betty agreed to go with him, he was meaning to himself before college but having her company was way better.

They finally found a small hotel, three hours into their ride, the two of them were on a lookout for any possible places for the past hour and Betty was grateful that they passed by one.

Jughead drove into the carpark and parked it in the corner. “Let me see if there are any rooms.” He said to Betty as he opened the door. Betty took out her phone and checked her texts, one from her mom, have fun with Jughead! I trust him, stay out of trouble. She checked instagram and then her email before looking out of the window. The hotel doors opened and she watched as Jughead walked back to the car, slipping his hand through his hair.

“No more rooms, they’re all booked out.” he huffed, sitting on the seat and shutting the door quickly.

“Really. How will we ever find a hotel?” Betty said in a fake surprised tone, luckily Jughead saw right through it and raised his eyebrows.

“Why are you saying it like that?”

“No reason.” she replied, he clearly wasn’t convinced. “I knew we should’ve planned.” she shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay, spill. I know you did some research, you’re not even trying to hide it. Tell me, did you find another hotel.”

Betty nodded and took out a sheet of paper. “I know, I know. It wasn’t supposed to be planned, this is the only thing I searched up, as a backup plan.” Jughead took it from her hands and looked at the page, it was just a printout of a hotel, it’s reviews and a map.”I didn’t book rooms ‘cuz I wasn’t sure if we’d find another one but let’s check it out.”

He agreed and started the engine, putting the hotel name on the GPS. Jughead knew that she would research at least one thing, it would be strange if she didn’t and he didn’t want to get mad because it could actually save them a lot of trouble. They drove in silence for fifteen minutes before arriving at the destination. The hotel was a lot bigger compared to the one they first saw and it looked more professional where as the other one was just some building. The hotel had a valet parking service so they parked across the street since they weren’t staying there yet. Jughead said he’d go in first so that they wouldn’t have to carry the bags back out if there were no rooms. Betty got out of the car and stretched, looking at the view. Unlike Riverdale, there were several buildings and Christmas lights hung up around lamp posts and trees. It was sunny for six pm and she was sure that the temperature was much lower here. Melted snow covered the pavements and rooftops, Betty liked it because it gave it an extra Christmas vibe.

“So, good news and bad news.” Jughead said, standing behind Betty.

Betty spun around and whipped his face with her ponytail. “Sorry.” she said sheepishly. “Bad news first.”

“Okay I’ll do both at the same time.. They have a room.” Jughead replied.

Betty’s eyes wandered up and then back down, confused as to why that could be bad news “But…?”

“A room. Not plural. We’d have to share, and it isn’t the one with the twin beds. It’s a master bedroom”

“So one bed?” she asked and he nodded. “Well, I searched it up and this is the best hotel in terms of price, service and condition. We might not find a better deal, we should just go for this. Unless you have a problem with it, then we can carry on looking.”

Jughead didn’t know how to respond, if she didn’t have a problem, then he wouldn’t have one either. “If you don’t mind sharing a bed, then neither do I.”

“Why would I have a problem with it? We did it all the time before.” Betty said as they walked over to the boot.

Jughead carried out their bags and helped her carry her heavier bag. “I don’t know, maybe you’d be uncomfortable with it since you’re with Archie.”

They walked across the street and entered the front entrance, immediately greeted with smiles. “I’m not uncomfortable with it, we’re friends!”

The hotel was decorated with huge baubles hanging from the ceiling, fake christmas trees were displayed in the middle of the room, and the scent of pine and cinnamon was the only thing they could smell. Jughead waved at the manager behind the front desk as they walked towards her.

“So, I see you’ve talked to your girl…” the manager, Willow, said. “And you’re re considering the room? I’m sorry it isn’t one of the king bed rooms, just a queen. You wouldn’t mind a smaller bed, right? It’s also a little cheaper.”

Betty looked at Jughead, apparently the manager thought they were a couple and Jughead only went out to find Betty because the problem was that they wouldn’t be sleeping in the biggest bed. “Uh, yes. A girl. His girl.” Betty commented awkwardly but Willow didn’t think anything about it, instead she laughed.

Willow handed them a clipboard with a couple of papers. “Well these are the forms, how long do you plan on staying? You can pay the full price now or daily.”

“Um three nights?” Jughead said to Betty and Betty nodded. “We’ll pay now.” She took out her credit card which had all of her savings on it and gave it to Willow.

After a moment of rapid typing, Willow looked back up and asked her to sign. She then called two men to take their baggages and Jughead handed them the key to the car, pointing at it from across the road. Willow beamed with joy. “Well it’s all sorted, here are your keys, 1403, fourteenth floor, third room. Checkout is before 12pm. Complementary breakfast buffet starts at seven and ends at half past ten, on the third floor.”

They nodded in unison and just as they were about to walk away, Jughead stopped them. “Are there any activities or sight seeing we could do?” Remembering that they had nothing planned yet.

“Well… we get a lot of young couples during the winter, so there are many suggestions.” Willow started, taking out three different pamphlets and unfolding them. “It snows often, so if you’re interested, there’s a really nice, romantic restaurant at the top of this snowy mountain.” she pointed at an image. “The view is amazing and of course snow is involved. All the couples enjoy this. You just need to take a train up” she highlighted the train station’s name.

Betty nodded enthusiastically so that Willow wouldn’t suspect that they weren’t a couple, as it would be embarrassing for all three of them. Willow pointed at another image. “There’s a huge ice rink on Central Street. A lovely aquarium, they give tours. Cutting your own Christmas trees, really popular activity for couples as well.” she took out a map and circled two different areas. “We are here and you’ll see that if you drive for about five to ten minutes, you get here, which has everything. Literally everything. It’s an outdoor mall and all the department stores mainly sell Christmas items that are only available once a year, on christmas.”

“Thank you.” Betty said as she took the pamphlets, Willow let out a happy sigh before waving bye. Jughead lead them to the lift and clicked the fourteenth floor button, they exited the lift and had trouble finding the room and thankfully someone was able to direct them to the right hallway. Betty swiped the card and pushed open the heavy door, their bags were already inside.

Jughead walked in and Betty grabbed his wrist. “No way, take off your boots.” she said as she slipped off her own pair. The room’s walls were beige and just in the corridor, there were already two large paintings. They walked through and Jughead peered into the bathroom, it was bigger than his own bedroom with a marble counter, a bathtub and a shower, and multiple mirrors. The main room was separated by a wall and door, as they stepped in, they were amazed by the view visible from the windows that went from the ceiling to the carpeted floor. It was dark already and above all the trees and little shops, were stars, so many of them. The bed was covered with pillows and Betty shrugged in approval, thinking it would be a lot smaller.

“I guess you still sleep on the left side?” Jughead asked and she nodded, putting down her rucksack on the small table next to it. He flopped down on his side and felt the bed shift a little when she did the same.

“Before my stomach rumbles so much that it shakes this bed, can we go for dinner somewhere?” Jughead asked after a while. Betty agreed and around ten minutes afterwards, they were back out and walking down the streets of Harmony Valley. They had dinner at the first restaurant they saw, korean barbeque and after that, Jughead insisted they walked a little more and ended up also having pancakes and ice cream. It took them almost a full hour to get back to the hotel and Betty was fine with it because she said she ate too much and needed to burn the calories. They got back into the room and Jughead went to shower whilst Betty facetimed her parents per their request to let them know that they were safe. Then she texted Veronica who was suggesting random activities for them to do and Betty had to tell her countless times that things, such as water parks, weren’t opened because it was winter. Betty heard the tap stop running and when there was no movement for ten minutes, she knocked on the bathroom door.

“Jug? Are you okay in there?” her face was pressed against the door.

In the bathroom Jughead rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh at himself. “Uhhh, yep. Except for the fact that I only have a small hand towel. And my pajamas are outside on the bed.”

Betty leaned back to look at the bed and his clothes were there, folded neatly on top of each other. She picked it up, took a towel from the closet and knocked on the door again. “Were you just going to stay in there until I fell asleep or something before you came out? Open the door I have the stuff.”

He unlocked the door a little and stuck his neck out. “Yes, precisely, I was going to wait until you slept to walk out naked and get my clothes.” he said sarcastically. He somehow managed to stick his arm out as well and Betty pushed everything into his hand. He smiled bashfully before shutting the door again.

Later once they were both finished with their showers, they lay on the bed watching some random show from MTV, the lights were all off except for the lamp next to the bed and neither of them were actually watching the show.

“Remember you used to come with us during easter to our beach house in Australia. The first time you came was the first time you had ever been in an airplane.” Betty said softly as she put her head against her pillow.

“I remember. There were many firsts from those few trips there. Like my first smore and first time playing at the beach.” Jughead smiled. “You let me sleep on your bed, you would always roll off.” and Betty whacked him with another pillow.

She suddenly laughed out loud. “Yeah well, every trip there would be one day where it was just the two of us alone in the house for the entire afternoon. And I told you if you combed my hair one hundred times, it would glow. You actually believed me!” she turned to face him, as if it was now a competition over who had more embarrassing stories from Australia.

“Jokes on you, I found it fun and soothing… really a testament to my childhood.” He muttered.

They continued going back and forth about humiliating and amusing experiences before Betty fell asleep against his chest. He moved lightly, trying not to wake her up and turned off the tv and lamp. He could feel her breathing on the thin shirt he was wearing and his hands somehow found a way to twist her hair, he fell asleep with his fingers threaded in her gold locks and their bodies too close for ‘just friends’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this was boring, it's just a transition chapter. Also, sorry for the slow updates. 
> 
> On another note (not literally), thank you so so much for all the reads, kudos, and positive comments! And thanks to those who are sticking around, Betty and Archie WILL be breaking up soon, it's in the works. 
> 
> ty :))))


	10. ix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favourite chapter by far! It's slightly longer than the last few chapters and lots of fun things happen. Hope you enjoy reading!

They forgot to close the curtains that night so Betty woke up to the bright sunrise at six. Jughead, being the heavy sleeper he was, was sound asleep next to her, one arm protectively around her waist. She wondered how they got in that position, the bed wasn’t gigantic but it was more than enough to fit the two of them and there was so much space that they didn’t have to be in the compromising spot they were in now. Betty started wiggling out of his grip and heard him breathe in deeply, she felt a shiver go down her spine as their bodies separated and she wished she were still in his warm embrace. Already awake and used to waking up this early, Betty took a shower and when she was done and Jughead still wasn’t awake, she started looking through the pamphlets. She was already excited for this, there were so many things they could do that wasn’t a thing in Riverdale. Their phones were charging in the socket by the tv, she turned on her phone and there was a spam of messages from Veronica, asking a bunch of random questions. Betty vaguely answered them all and sent her a silent room tour, trying not to disturb Jughead. In hindsight she should’ve covered Jughead with the covers because Betty hadn’t told her that they were sharing a room, let alone a bed. Of course Veronica freaked out over it and if Betty didn’t know any better, she’d think that her best friend wanted her to break up with Archie and date Jughead. She takes out a book from her bag and pulls a chair besides the heater.

Jughead yawns and stretches, for a brief second he doesn’t remember where he is or why the bed is so big. He flips over onto his back and looks at Betty who’s already looking at him. “Morning Betts. Sorry, did I drive you off the bed?” He sat up.

“No, I have like a default alarm clock drilled into my brain for six AM.” She said, putting her bookmark in the book and leaving it on the side, she read about 200 pages in the few hours he was sleeping.

He could barely open his eyes, it was too bright for his liking. “What time is it?”

“Five minutes to ten. We can still make breakfast if you can get ready quickly.” Betty tugged at the sleeves of her hoodie.

Jughead ran his hands through his hair before literally jumping out of bed. “When food is on the line, I can do anything quickly.”

It turned out that he wasn’t lying and within twenty minutes, they were on the elevator to the third floor. They were escorted to a table by the windows and Betty curiously looked out the window whilst Jughead went to find food. He came back balancing three plates and Betty helped him put them down on the table. Jughead never got to eat this much in one meal, all the food he had should probably last three meals because he didn’t want to throw money around like it grew off trees, but he decided that a two day break wouldn’t hurt and that they already paid so it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Betty came back with a bowl of mixed berries and yogurt, compared to Jughead’s sausage, eggs, baked potato and beans, toast, scone, ham, and waffles, it seemed like nothing but it was plenty to fill her stomach. It was a wonder how Jughead managed to maintain his body weight and size with his appetite.

He went for round two and then round three and all Betty did was watch him smile as he ate. It made her happy, that he was happy, even though it was just food. This trip was to make up for all the lost time even if it only included eating and talking. They went back up to their room and Jughead looked through the pamphlets to find ideas when Betty went to help the granny next door find her glasses.

“I know you said you wanted to go to a cat cafe.” Jughead said as she entered the room, reminding her about the birthday balloons with notes inside. Betty broke out into a smile and Jughead quickly shook his head “They don’t have that here, I didn’t mean to get your hopes up. But… they do have an owl cafe and-”

“ARE YOU KIDDING.” Betty yelled from across the room. “YES TO THE OWL CAFE, yes, yes, yes. I only said cat cafe because I thought it’d be easier to find but an OWL! This will be my dream come true.” It was a bit of an exaggeration but her favorite animals when she was little all came from the owl species, she used to spend hours reading books about them. She walked over to wear he was sitting and looked down at the picture on the page, her smile even bigger than earlier.

Jughead grinned up at her. “Okay, owl cafe first then.” Betty pumped her fist in the air and did a little dorky dance which Jughead tried not to laugh at. “I’ll just put it into google maps and see how to get there… if we drive, it’ll only be ten minutes, do you want to check how much it costs?”

Betty turned on her own phone and found it’s website, for an hour, it was quite pricey but it seemed like a pretty good price to pay for something she’s always wanted to do. All her savings were in a credit card and she still had some cash from babysitting jobs, if she wasn’t going to spend it on college and didn’t have anything to buy at Riverdale, then it would be fine if she spent a little here. She showed Jughead the price, his eyes widened at the numbers but just wanted to make her happy so he didn’t hesitate to agree. As they were doing a last minute kinda trip, they both agreed that they would decide what to do next after the owl cafe, it made Betty anxious because she was used to planning everything by the hours in a notebook (not on a laptop or phone because technology is not dependable) and the fact that Jughead wanted her to just relax was a little worrying for her. Betty had changed from her hoodie into a three layer outfit because it was much colder than she imagined, she put on her coat and zipped it up till it covered her neck and advised Jughead to do the same. He just chuckled and said that they would be in a car but as soon as they got to the lobby and waited for said car, he felt like he was going to suffer from hypothermia.

As they drove, it started snowing and Betty put her fingers against the window glass, it had been almost three years since it snowed in Riverdale and she wanted to feel the soft ice crystals melt against her warmth. They played jazz from the radio on the way there and overall, it was a peaceful ride and everything Jughead imagined their first trip to be like. They drove past many buildings, they weren’t skyscrapers but they were taller than anything in Riverdale and there was more action in one street than in their whole town. The owl cafe was sort of in the middle of two streets, it was just a wooden den that looked small from the outside but big as they circled around. As Jughead parked, Betty pulled down her pink beanie over her ears, only possible because she hadn’t tied it in the usual tight ponytail. Jughead, ironically wasn’t wearing his crown beanie (because it was soaked in milkshake) and he was wearing another beanie Betty knitted for him when they were six. She didn’t really think about the size when she was making it and it ended up being just as big as the crown beanie, it was grey-ish blue as he requested and it had a white pompom at the top. If he were still in Riverdale, he wouldn’t even think to wear this because everyone would stare and think of it as unusual, but nobody at Harmony Valley knew him except for Betty and she wouldn’t laugh at him, especially since it was her work.

They got out and Betty ran over to Jughead and linked her arm through his to feel his body heat. He held the door open for her and she rushed in, grateful that the room was heated. There was a glass door separating the reception and owls, but Betty could see through the translucent glass and was feeling even more jumpy to actually touch the owls. Betty insisted to pay for Jughead with her credit card, he backed down when he realised she wouldn’t stop till he allowed her to. The manager explained the rules, no feeding, no flash photography, no poking eyes (yes that was a rule), ask for assistance if you want to take a photo with it on your head, shoulder and arm only. He gave them hand sanitizer and motioned to the coat hanger, Jughead put his camera strap over his head and removed the scarf, They put their phones and wallets in their pockets and put the bags inside a small cubby, it didn’t seem very safe but there was nothing overly important in there anyways. They opened the door and Betty clenched her heart when she saw that there were at least 4 dozen owls inside, of all different breeds.

Betty walked over to the side, fearlessly and gently, she raised her arm at stroked them from the back. The surrounding owls shifted away but the one she was staring at adoringly didn’t move, only gave her their pair of wide eyes. She took out her phone and took multiple selfies before Jughead offered to help her take a photo, as the rules stated, they needed to call for assistance if they wanted the owl on a body part. The lady who came was surprisingly nice, contrary to her frown lines and scowl, she helped the owl onto Betty’s shoulder and stepped to the side. Betty smiled at ease as if she’d been spending her whole life with owls, Jughead only managed one picture before it flew up onto her head, thankfully she took off her beanie along with the coat. Her smile was wide, and even though Jughead wasn’t in the picture, he couldn’t help but to smile as well. She raised her arm and helped the owl back into its place like a professional and the worker nodded impressed at Betty’s maturity and knowledge of handling owls without gloves. They continued walking and Betty helped Jughead take a couple of photos in return, he was less confident with the owls and flinched when the worker put the owl on his arm.

“What do you feed them? I know barn owls mainly eat mice and shrews, is that hygienic? To have dead mice.” Betty asked the assistant manager, as she played with the barn owl Jughead could only assume. He knew that Betty read books about owls when she was younger but didn’t know that she would still remember all the information now.

“We’ll feed them insects and sometimes things like crabmeat, or any small bits of meat. We don’t find many rats in the winter so worms are usually used as compensation.” The assistant manager, Cory said.

Betty nodded. “I’m sure the Scops and Screech owls like that. The insects I mean.”

“We don’t have any screech owls, there aren’t really any in the woods of Harmony Valley.” Cory said as they all walked to another part of the room.

Betty gasped and jogged towards the branches. “These are Scops Owls! Are these two lovelies from Western Europe?” Betty asked as she took a couple pictures. Jughead stood behind her and took some behind-the-scenes photos of her.

Cory raised his eyebrows. “Most likely, they’re commonly from there. We think they migrated here.”

“Because they’re a migratory bird. Their camouflaging plumage is what makes them unique, do they… um camouflage against the branches?”

“Because it isn’t a real tree, they do find it quite difficult but I have seen it once or twice.”

Betty’s jaw literally dropped. “Amazing. And have you seen them stretch their bodies and sway to look even more like a tree branch in the wind?”

Cory returned her expression. “You do know your owls. Unfortunately I haven’t seen that with them yet.”

Betty nodded with a bit of disappointment. “Can we take a picture with it?” She asked Cory as she pulled Jughead towards her.

“Of course you may! Where do you want me to put them?” He asked, looking between the two of them.

“Our shoulders.” Jughead said because he wasn’t sure if he’d feel comfortable with it on his hair like Betty had earlier. Cory slowly placed the owls on their shoulders and Jughead handed him his camera

“Okay, say owl!!!” Cory instructed, it was childish but they both said it. Cory helped the owls off them and told them to call him if they wanted another picture before walking away. Betty looked at the pictures and showed Jughead, he said he looked weird and told her that they should take a selfie with it instead. Betty probably stroked every single owl by the time the hour ended, and combined with Jughead’s pictures on the camera, she had six hundred or so pictures with and of the owls. They bid their farewells and ran into their car, the snow had gotten a bit heavier and it probably dropped a couple degrees.

“What do you want to do next?” Betty asked as Jughead took out the pamphlets from the back. He looked through them again, maybe for the sixth time today, he could almost recite what activities there were.

“Moose watching… no. A houseboat tour of Harmony Valley’s lakes… in this weather? A definite no.” He chuckled as he turned the page.

“What about sledding!” Betty pointed at the little image of sleds outside a shop. “We can rent it and sled down a mountain or something.”

“That sounds like fun. Okay, where is this shop.” Jughead read the website link that was underneath the image, he typed out the shop name on the GPS and they drove over. It was a slightly longer ride because they were on the other side of town, there was a little bit of traffic but it allowed them to take in the view.

Betty and Jughead had been sledding a couple of times before, when snowing was still heard of in Riverdale. Betty got a new sled when she was five but as soon as she found out that Jughead had never sled down the mountain before, she gave him her one and took Chic’s old, half dismantled sled from the shed, fixed it with a bit of help from her dad and then used that one instead. The first few times, Jughead was scared and didn’t want to break her sled, that was never the case and when they were eight, they started sneaking out together and sledding on their own. It wasn’t necessarily safe and Betty was the kind to worry even at a young age so they only every did half the route without her parents.

Jughead parked outside the shop and they walked in together, immediately spotting the rent signs. Betty asked the clerk sitting behind the desk, how much it cost and he raised his hand in return before standing up and walking away. They looked at one another, confused and broke out into laughter. Another man came by not long after and slumped down in the chair.

“I’m Ryan. How can I help?” Ryan asked in the most bored tone Betty had ever heard.

“We’d like to rent two sleds. How much would that cost?” She chirped, not letting his bad mood affect hers.

Ryan sighed heavily before handing her a laminated sheet of paper. “Depends, how many hours?”

“How long will it take to sled down the mountain.” Jughead rolled his eyes.

“Why are you asking me. Everstark Mountain usually takes around forty five minutes for me, is that helpful?” he said snarkily. Jughead looked over Betty’s shoulder and there was no one hour price.

“We’ll rent for two hours.” Betty said because she could no longer tolerate Ryan’s attitude. They quickly took some cash out of their wallets and handed it to him, taking a ‘how-to’ flyer on the way out with the sleds. There were instructions on how to get to the top of the mountain via cable car. Betty breathed in deeply as they neared the station, she wasn’t necessarily afraid of cable cars, afterall she had done her due diligence of finding out how many deaths were caused by this specific mode of transport but it hadn’t completely calmed her mind. It seemed like a childish thing to be worried about so she didn’t say anything to Jughead as they bought the tickets. They lined up behind a long queue of skiers and snowboarders and as if Jughead could sense Betty’s anxiety, he pulled her close and shook his head.

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” Jughead nodded at the cable cars, they took another step forward as they got closer to the front of the line.

Betty ducked her head, embarrassed. “No, I want to.” What she wanted, was for Jughead to enjoy this trip and if it meant risking the small, small percentage of possible death, she’d do it. “Besides, there have been no reported deaths lately… and these people don’t seem to be blindly sitting in a cable car.”

He wrapped his free arm around her her shoulders until he could feel her become less tense. They got a cable car all to themselves and Betty pressed her body against his, moving her forehead to his collarbone.

He didn’t have gloves on, they were in his pocket, so he put his fingers against her cheek and rubbed it gently. “I feel like a dick - we shouldn’t have gone on this.”

Betty shook her head and Jughead could feel her mouth move against half his skin and half his sweater. “Don’t. I suggested it. And if we do die here, then I’m glad it’s with you, Juggie.”

“That wouldn’t be good at all, my last words to you would be ‘I feel like a dick.’ And also the more you believe it, the more scared you’ll be so don’t think about it.” Jughead said, his fingers still on her face. She nodded, and in what seemed like an entire century to Betty, they arrived at the top and Jughead held her hand as they got off so that she wouldn't lose balance.

They walked to the trail, that was fairly obvious by the sign posted by the side and they dumped their sleds down onto the snow. Jughead turned on his camera and took a couple of photos of her before sitting down on his own sled. Betty looked at him with an arched eyebrow which was an obvious cry, to Jughead, for help to push her down. His fingers were still against the wooden material and wondered if she would hate him for doing this, she stared at him and just as she opened her mouth to speak, Jughead gently pushed the sled and her words turned into a shriek. She wanted to swear as she rushed down the first part but then decided that it was a good opportunity to prank Jughead back. She kicked her legs and used her arms to push herself down the slope even faster, until she was sure that Jughead was too far, only slowing down when she saw an opening to hide. In order not to leave footstep marks on the snow, she leaned against the rock mounted with snow and then lightly kicked her sled to the opposite side.

Jughead laughed to himself before pushing off and going down the hill himself, after 100 meters or so he wondered where Betty went, surely she would’ve stopped to tell him off. He looked ahead and there were marks from her sled so he followed them until he caught up with her sled, only without her on it. He gazed at it with wide eyes for around twenty seconds as if it would suddenly make her reappear and when she still didn’t show up, he started to get worried. He stood up from his own and looked over the edge of the mountain, shouting her name a couple of times. Betty felt bad, hiding in the curve of the rocks but wanted to see what he would do, he was still a few meters away from her sled, hence not being able to spot her right away. He turned on his phone and dialed her number, which he remembered off by heart because sometimes his contacts just deleted themselves and her number was important. Jughead started pacing as he waited for an answer, he almost thought there was no service but then Betty’s phone started ringing and he could recognize her ringtone anywhere (she seems to be the only one in town that had Lollipop by the Chordettes as their ringtone). He put down his phone from his ear and followed the sound, leading him to Betty who was frantically trying to end the call.

“Betts!” he shouted, his nostrils fuming.

She laughed but then drifted off into silence when his expression didn’t match hers. “Jug… are you mad?”

He stepped back and let his arms fall on by his sides aggressively. “Of course! Did you want me to have a heart attack.” Betty jumped back startled and he regretted using the tone he did. “What if something did happen to you? And even worse, I caused it.” He whispered, her eyes softened and she brushed the curl away from his eyes.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, you would never do anything to purposely hurt me. I took the prank too far, sorry Juggie.” She answered in a soft voice.

Jughead sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her into a hug. “Don’t do that again, I was so worried… I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“It’s fine.” Betty shook her head.

“No it’s not, you didn’t do anything wrong and it was wrong of me to take out my anxiety on you.”

Betty moved back to look at him. “Anxiety? About what?”

“No, no forget I said it.” He said as he walked towards his sled. Betty followed him to his, dragging hers along.

“No, let’s not forget it… what’s wrong?” she almost shouted over the wind.

Jughead licked his lips, trying to find a way to tell her and not make him sound like an idiot. “Hell, whatever… I don’t want to sound stupid, I was hoping this could be like the trip that made up for all lost time, just the two of us like it was when we were kids. I wanted it to be perfect but I’m not, not at all.”

Betty didn’t catch the message. “What do you mean, Jug?”

“But now I realise that things won’t be the same. You only became friends with me because you were too innocent to realise how problematic and… not perfect, I was. And now you’ve matured and you can make your own choices and I don’t want you to look back at your childhood and regret that you gave me the cookie in the first place.” Jughead dipped his head to save himself some of the awkwardness.

He could hear Betty stand up and then a second later, her arms were wrapped around his chest. This kind of conversation wasn’t unheard of in their friendship, he constantly had doubts and thought she was too good to be true so he always questioned it and tried not to get too close. Whenever she would deny it and tell him she’d never not want to be friends with him, it only made them even closer and it had been almost seven years since Betty had heard about this again.

“That’s what this is? I’ll never, ever regret talking to you and befriending you that day, you were the best decision I ever made as a child. Do you understand? Nobody is perfect and I don’t expect you to be, but you’re the least flawed person I’m friends with and that is pretty damn close to perfect. Yes we’re older now, that only means I’m inclined to make less bad choices. The day we stop being friends will be the day I die, and even then we’ll be friends in heaven. Choosing not to be your friend is the worst decision I could ever make… cautiously.”

Jughead parted first, and Betty could see some sort of sad smile. “Even in heaven?”

She grinned, her green eyes as clear as ever. “Even in heaven.”

“Fifty cookies?” he said back. It was a thing they did when they were little, the cookie bets. They would each give one another one thing they had to include in their cookie recipe and bake it with that before handing them out and tallying who got more likes. Of course they were edible things but not cookie things and they would have to somehow make it work, the worst ingredient was papaya, nobody prefered it and they hated it as well so they banned it from all bets. Whenever either of them says ‘fifty cookies’ it means that they’re so sure that they would bake fifty papaya cookies, humiliate themselves by offering it to strangers and then eat the remainders, and because neither of them would do that, it was their idea of a promise except much more serious.

Betty nodded. “One hundred - freaking cookies.” She went over to her sled and looked at him before they went down together, it had just snowed so the snow was soft and there was so much of it. They stopped around a bench and Betty fell back first (like a trust fall) into the lump of snow, it covered her face and she probably swallowed a bit but she was having too much fun to even question how unhygienic it could’ve been. Jughead took pictures of her making a snow angel on his camera before sitting down next to her, his butt immediately sinking in.

“Thanks for saying… y’know… all of that at the top. You’re my uh - closest friend and I guess I didn’t want to lose you.” Of course there were also the additional feelings for her that he could only describe as unmutual pining and most simply, a crush, but he couldn’t tell her that. She was with Archie and it would be selfish of him to even hint at it.

Betty sighed in contentment. “After this trip, I’d have to be a real ass to stop being friends with you.” She took off her gloves and turned on her phone, taking a selfie with Jughead almost neck deep in snow, she edited it and posted the photo on her instagram. Immediately there was one like, Veronica, and then a dozen heart eyes emoji’s as a comment, sometimes her friend wasn’t subtle at all and if Archie saw it then he’d get even more defensive. But she was happiest where she was at the moment despite Veronica’s comment and Archie’s possible reaction and she realised that she was happiest with Jughead, no matter what they were doing or how far away they were from home.

Was it wrong to feel that way? She asked herself. They joy and excitement she felt with Jughead was a feeling she hadn’t really experienced in a while, not even with Veronica and especially not with Archie. Now she could understand what Veronica meant when she said that Archie may be a little jealous, if it were the other way round, she could see herself potentially being a little stand-offish. She couldn’t describe her feelings towards Jughead, she wanted to lock them in a cage and bury them deep within her soul because it wasn’t only the friendship to her, it was also how she was questioning her relationship with Archie now. Unsure about whether she loved him or loved him, because there was a difference and it was insensitive of her not to deal with her emotions.

She didn’t want to be a killjoy so in light of forgetting heavy topics, she insisted Jughead sing christmas carols with her as they sled down. He obliged because that was part of the true Christmas experience which he had promised her at the start. The two hours passed unsurprisingly fast, Chic used to tell them “You know you’re having fun when time goes by so fast that hours seems like minutes.”. Once they got to the bottom of the mountain, Jughead didn’t want a repeat of Betty being fearful and vulnerable with him on the cable car (because as much as he hates to think about it, it just made his romantic feelings for her increase by 100% and he wasn’t sure if his heart could handle the kind of heartbreak that would come when Betty and Archie move onto the next big step), so they found a little alley, covered in thick snow and raced down the small slope until the two hours passed.

They returned the sled and got half their money back from the deposit they gave earlier just in case of damage. With the cash they had, Jughead calculated that it would be enough for that fancy dinner but maybe lunch-style so that there’d be less people. He was going to suggest it but not before Betty told him she just wanted to have a burrito and then stay in their hotel room in the heat. She looked tired and he suspected it was from her early wake time, when they got into the car, Jughead searched up different mexican restaurants, there was shockingly a lot to choose from and it ranged from different prices, from a five star cuisine to a little food truck. By the time he found one that had a sufficient amount of reviews and wasn’t dangerously cheap, Betty had dozed off in the chair besides him. And in her sleep she was even more beautiful, or just as beautiful, Jughead didn’t know what was acceptable. He lightly brushed the hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear before buckling her seatbelt for her too, she moved a little when he strapped it on but otherwise, remained in the same state. Jughead didn’t turn on the radio, even though it was a whole half hour ride, he just didn’t want to wake her.

He drove into the car park and found an empty space close to the lifts, Betty was still asleep and as far as he could tell, she was also sweating. He helped her unzip a bit of her coat before turning off the heater and opening one window. He looked through all his pictures on the camera and tried to maintain his joy to a tight grin so that he wouldn’t seem psychotic from the outside. Majority of the pictures were of Betty and he wasn’t sure if that was appropriate, still, he took a picture of her sleeping.

Jughead’s stomach rumbled and it was obnoxiously loud and Betty woke up to the sound of that. She yawned and tried to move out of the seat before realising she was wearing a seat belt. She noticed the grey and cold environment of the car park and looked to her left, seeing Jughead. “Oh my gosh, did I fall asleep?” she asked, tugging the sides of her coat.

“Yeah, before I even started driving. We’re here, by the way.” Jughead closed the windows.

Betty glanced at the clock on the dashboard and shut her eyes apologetically. “You must be so hungry, you should’ve woken me up. How long have we been here?”

“About thirty minutes, it took a while to even get inside this car park, there’s a huge queue.” Jughead shrugged. “I wanted you to get some rest.”

Betty’s heart went warm at that. “That’s sweet. Now, how about we get you some food.” Jughead got out of the car and quickly went over to her side to open her door.

“ooh” Betty said fancily, giving him her hand, she was suddenly happy that Veronica made them get manicures because even though Jughead wouldn’t care if she hadn’t, it made him smile a little.

Jughead brought her hand to his lips and pecked it lightly. “M’lady” he said with a grin playing on his lips. She got out and he locked the car before they both ran away from the freezing air and into the shopping mall. They got onto the lift, which stopped at every floor before theirs.

It finally reached their floor and Betty took off her thick coat whilst Jughead lead the way. “So where are we eating?” she asked as he looked at the shop numbers.

Jughead looked at her. “Somewhere with burritos, like you wanted.” He turned back to the shops and continued scouting for the right number. The shopping mall they were in was massive and apparently, it wasn’t even the best one they had here, Jughead wished this was a thing in Riverdale.

She smiled dreamily up at him when he wasn’t looking. She coughed “Did you look at reviews?”

“Yup.” He nodded, knowing that she would’ve asked for him to do it if she were awake earlier. “And found one with an appropriate price range.” She spotted it first and pointed at the restaurant, there were only a few people inside so they sat in one of the booths. She ordered a chicken burrito, with salad of course and Jughead had a set meal for two which included tacos, nachos and a yellow rice salsa and chips. Betty got a bit of salad dressing on her nose as she put a piece of lettuce too big for anyone’s mouth, Jughead laughed and Betty had no idea what funny thing she did this time.

He stuffed two nachos in his mouth before wiping his fingers on the cloth and taking out his camera. Betty was chewing the vegetable and Jughead snapped a couple of pictures and then stood up and leaned over the table.

“You have a - uh little something over here.” He said with his fingers not even a centimeter away from the mayonaise, it was as far as he could reach though so Betty raised her own hand to help herself.

“Here?” She pointed at her upper lips.

Jughead shook his head. “No… no - here let me do it.” He walked over to her side and raised his thumb, brushing the tip of her nose and side of her lips. He smiled at how cute and helpless she was and she sunk back into her seat, seemingly embarrassed.

“Thank you.” She said softly, though it seemed like neither of them were thinking about what happened seconds ago. They were having a moment, Betty thought as she let herself get lost in Jughead’s eyes, his white sweater really brought out the blue and she couldn’t decide if it was more stormy blue or an ash-grey/blue. Jughead felt like he should look away, it was definitely already too long but he couldn’t tear away his gaze, not willingly. At first sight, it looked like Betty had blue eyes, it was an easy mistake that everyone except for her family has made at least once. Upon closer inspection, you see gold flecks around the pupils and then it’s green, not blue. Jughead always knew that her eyes were green, maybe it was just from him looking at her too much when they first became friends. They had their own shared notebooks and on the cover, Betty drew the two of them. She casually mentioned that she had green eyes and Jughead told her that he knew and she gave him a tight hug in response, he never knew why she did that but he never asked.

After Jughead finally finished all his food, they walked around the mall for a little and it was in fact, playing christmas songs. Every store had something for Christmas, whether it was ornaments or holiday themed blankets, there was everything. Betty and Jughead got matching ugly sweaters, it was Jughead’s idea actually and Betty was so shocked that he even suggested it. Betty chose the colour theme of their Christmas tree, which they still yet had to buy, the ornaments were all red and gold and came in different shapes. Jughead jokingly picked up a gingerbread tree topper and Betty added it to her basket. Her arm was still in a cast so he carried all three bags for them to the car. On the way back to the condo, they saw a park from walking distance, the playground section was covered in snow and Betty saw many families there making snowmen and having snowball fights. She asked Jughead if they could do that and he nodded but wanted to get back to their room first. They changed into their matching sweaters and Betty took off all the other layers underneath her coat because it had gone up a few degrees.

They walked to the park, Betty sort of skipping and Jughead tailing behind her. There were less people there now and Jughead only then realised that it was almost five. A dog was playing in the snow and it ran up to the two of them, Betty always wanted a corgi or cocker spaniel, Jughead knew that. They played with their imaginary dogs, Betty knew several breeds and she’d always choose between the two, Jughead didn’t know any so Betty would decide for him a lot of the time. After Pepper, the dog, left, they sat in the snow and hummed to themselves for a while, taking in their surroundings. Jughead took out his camera, which had little battery now because of how old it was, and he took a picture of the snow, the sky, the trees and Betty. They started rolling little balls of snow silently and stacking them on top of each other to make mini snowmen.

“Why is yours shaped like that” Jughead snorted, pointing at Betty’s heart shaped mould.

“It’s the snowman’s butt!” Betty retorted. “Your’s is just as bad.” she nodded towards his own one that was toppling over.

Jughead shrugged “What can I say, I like a big headed snowman. I doubt you could do any better.”

“You wanna bet? Winner gets to shower first.” Betty stood up, wiping the snow off her pants.

Jughead got up as well with a half smile. “Hang on. After your shower, your blonde curls just remain by the drain and I’ll have to suffer them if you go first.” He honestly didn’t mind because he knew that the average person lost about 60 to 100 hairs daily, Betty was actually the one who told him that when he combed her hair many years ago in Australia.

Betty squinted at him. “It goes two ways, your dark curls will just be stuck around the drain. And I’ll have to suffer through that.”

“You take longer!” Jughead racked his brain for more ideas and that was the only thing that came.

Betty rolled her eyes playfully. “If you win, I’ll give you permission to take double the time I usually do.”

“I don’t need the extra time!” he was flailing his arms now.”It doesn’t matter, we can discuss this after I win.”

“You wish. I’ll win and we can talk business afterwards.” She said with a smile.

Jughead didn’t want to repeat again or else she would do the same and neither of them would stop.“We get a stranger to judge, okay? Otherwise we’ll just say our own.”

Betty was already turning around and gathering snow. “You might not… after you see mine.” She laughed. He couldn’t think of a good comeback so he went pfftttttt before turning to start his own.

There was an intense silence for the full half hour, Betty glanced over her shoulders but couldn’t see what Jughead was making because he was obviously trying to cover it with his body. When Jughead sneaked a look, he could see that hers was much bigger behind her tiny frame and he knew his shoe size snowman wouldn’t even compare to Betty’s knee high snow figure, he still couldn’t tell what she was making.

Around forty five minutes after their banter, Jughead slowly walked over to Betty and tried to scare her into dropping some snow in the wrong place. She was prepared for it and also scared him in return, it wasn’t really a scare, more so some snow to his face.

She giggled and helped him wipe it off. When he opened his eyes and could see clearly, he looked at Betty’s snowman with a puzzled expression. “What is it?” He took a step towards it. Betty shook her head and pushed him back to his own snowman because she wouldn’t put it past him to sabotage hers at the last second.

“It’s snoopy!” She said excitedly, pointing at the ears and the nose.

“I gotta say, it does look like him.” Jughead admitted.

Betty curtsied. “Well, thank you for your honesty. Now lets see yours.”

Jughead took a step to the left and made jazz hands and he hummed the national anthem. Betty laughed at that and a couple of people walking by gave him looks of curiosity. “May I present, our very own - drumroll please- SNOW SHREK!!!” He yelled out to the sky.

Betty bit her lower lip and even though they were in a competition, Jughead was so ready to just give it to her for her adorable face. He mentally slapped himself before going back on track. “No clap, or comment?”

Betty shook her head, she was trying hard not to smile and take this very seriously but his thing honestly didn’t look like the Shrek she’d seen in the movies. “Not a word? So all that honesty for nothing.” Jughead asked her.

“Okay let’s find someone now. But before that, I want a photo of us before finding out who wins.” Betty replied indirectly, taking out her phone and getting a quick selfie with him and their snowmen.

“Yeah, after you see that I’ve won!” He yelled as he walked away into the crowds. Betty was sitting in between both snowmen when Jughead came back with another man no older than thirty.

“Betts, this is Maks… he’s here to help us take a photo.” Jughead said and Maks smiled warmly with Jughead’s camera in his hand. Jughead put his arm around Betty’s waist and even though they were oppositions, they put that aside for the photo and smiled like they would in any other picture together, literally glowing. Maks gave Jughead back his camera and opened his mouth to say goodbye but was stopped by Jughead asking for a small favour.

“Could you tell us which snowman is better?” Jughead asked. Maks broke out into a nervous smile.

“No, we’re serious.” Betty said to him.

Maks looked at Jughead’s Shrek and then Snoopy. “Feel free to play favorites.” Jughead said with a wink and Betty slapped him lightly, he would do the same to her except he’d never hit her and also her injured arm.

“Well… uh - I’m not playing favorites… I don’t know who’s is who’s…” Maks stated, his hands going to the back of his neck, Jughead knew it was out of anxiousness because he sometimes did the same.

“Yeah?” Jughead prompted.

Maks sighed deeply. “I like the Snoopy, I think that’s what it is.” Betty fist bumped the air. “I can’t even vaguely tell what the other one is.”

Jughead tilted his head. “Oh, come on, Maks! It’s shrek!” He said.

Maks shrugged and Betty waved him bye. Dancing joyously, Betty stuck her tongue out at Jughead whilst he stood there with a somewhat pleasant smile.

“I guess I’m the winner.” she said teasingly. Jughead ran up to her and started tickling her everywhere, he knew which places made her laugh the most. She collapsed to the floor and tried to tell him to stop between the wheezing.

Jughead was on his knees when he removed his hands, it took her a while to catch her breath again. “I’m showering first.” Betty said finally.

“Okay, okay.” He surrendered. She posted the pictures on her instagram account as well as they walked back to the condo, her caption was “Before and after I won the best snowman competition” followed by a couple peach emojis. She wasn’t popular, between her and Veronica, Veronica was the one that became friends with everyone, meanwhile Betty was the kind of person that kept to herself except for a few close friends and everyone else were just mutual acquaintances. So her instagram didn’t have an overly aesthetic feed like half the girls in her year, she shows no interest towards her likes nor her comments and didn’t care for compliments under every single post. This time when a couple cheerleaders commented asking if it was snoopy, and where she was, she did take the time to answer them all. Even the one asking if she and Jughead were dating because of the matching sweaters, which she had to sensibly respond with a no to, was interesting. A few of her classmates asked who it was in the photo, as if Jughead hadn’t already been in school for almost five months, she put his profile as part of her caption so that she would stop getting those questions. Jughead gained twenty three follows on his photography account after that, they were mainly girls and were not ashamed to comment hearts and heart eyes under his week old posts. He sort of knew that there were girls in school who did bat him a second eye, or what girls referred to as ‘fangirling’ without the celebrity stuff of course. He had gotten three notes slipped into his locker anonymously, he suspected they were all different people because of the vast hand writing style and ability to form sentences. He also got two confessions that were signed. It didn’t matter though because he didn’t really care for that stuff. He and Betty talked about these kinds of things sometimes when they were climbing trees by Sweetwater River.

_Betty had one arm around the tree trunk and one hand with her hair wrapped around her fingers. Jughead was climbing up on the tree across her, he was struggling to because the lowest branch was almost triple his height and he could barely get over two meters. He got there eventually and sat down, rubbing his palms together to see if he got any splinters._

_“When I have a girlfriend, I’ll make sure she doesn’t have splinters. It goes two ways, she’ll also check mine.” He said to Betty. “They’re a nightmare.”_

_Betty nodded and laughed. As a kid, she did that a lot, she was always really giddy and to anyone else it would have looked like flirting. “When I have a boyfriend, we will have our own master chef for desserts.” she was always competitive. “Until then, we’ll just have to help each other.” she said as she brushed her curly lock behind her shoulders._

_“You know, the boy buys a ring when they ask the girl to marry him.” Jughead said matter of factly. He only knew that because Jellybean was watching something on the TV and the prince asked the princess to marry him. Neither of his parents still wore their rings by that time, he couldn’t even put two and two together._

_Betty shrugged. “It might not be boy and girl.” Her parents taught her to be open minded and to accept everyone for who they were. Boys liking boys and girls liking girls didn’t even seem like a big thing to her when they told her about it, at that age she was oblivious to the discrimination and inequality. “But yes, you do buy a ring. Mom has a diamond one, hers is in the shape of an oval. Auntie Linda has one that’s a circle. I wonder what shape I’ll get.” She replied. They were both swinging their legs back and forth._

_Jughead pulled a leaf off from the branch and threw it onto the floor. “I thought you didn’t like diamonds.” Jughead said._

_She was surprised he remembered that, she only mentioned it once, very casually when Polly got glittery rings for her birthday and gave one to Betty. But at that time, little things like that didn’t have any significance. “You’re right. Well then I guess I’d want a stone ring.” Jughead nodded and waited for her to continue, he knew that she read about different stones before, she read about everything. “Maybe an alexandrite ring. Under daylight, it’s a blue-ish, dark-ish green. And indoors with unnatural lights, like a lamp, it becomes red. It also changes colour if you switch from fluorescent to incandescent light. It’s super cool, but they are very rare and valuable.”_

_Jughead picked another leaf. “I’d think so. A color changing stone.” he snapped a twig off and aimed it at Betty. It landed on her skirt._

_She picked it up and threw it back to him. “I most likely won’t be rich and fancy when I’m old. So maybe an emerald ring. They’re green. Just like my eyes. Except it’s even more vibrant. The more vivid, the more valuable. So a light green, I suppose, won’t be too expensive and it’ll match my eyes even more!”_

_“I don’t think I’ll ever get married.” Jughead said to her after a while._

_Betty slapped her forehead, a thing she’d always seen Chic do when he thought something was dumb. “Yes you will, what makes you think that?”_

_Jughead shrugged. “Girls don’t look at me that way.”_

_“Just wait until you go through puberty - and before you say you won’t, everyone does. And then secret love notes will be slipped into your locker all year round.” Betty liked to mention her knowledge about middle school and stuff, she had gone on tours with Chic (there were only three middle schools in Riverdale) and she also learnt things that Jughead knew nothing about._

_Jughead started splitting his twigs into smaller pieces. “If a girl is too scared to tell me to my face then it’s an automatic no. I don’t want secret love messages. It’ll be humiliating to me and the other person.”_

_“Whatever, Juggie. Don’t forget about me when girls start chasing after you, though.” She said._

He wanted to tell her that he would never forget her but they were only ten and it didn’t mean anything then, maybe if they had a similar conversation today, he would tell her that she was always on his mind. She was right, he had gotten some notes but what he said eight years ago was still true now. He hadn’t even bothered trying to find out who wrote them.

They walked back to the hotel and called room service from there for dinner. Tired from the long day, they had an early night, Betty showered first, and then Jughead. They talked and watched whatever TV show was on the channel at the time well into 1 am before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

The curtains weren’t helpful after all, light shone through still as luminicious as it was the morning before. Jughead woke up first this time and he went over to his bag, unzipping the front pocket that revealed another pamphlet. Betty hadn’t seen this one yet and there were several cool things on it, like a Christmas tree farm where you can cut your own and bring it home. He planned a whole day of total surprise for her, technically it wasn’t planned like the rules they decided on because he hadn’t researched it before the trip. It was the 22nd and they were leaving right after breakfast tomorrow morning so he wanted to get as many Christmas things done today. He finished an essay by the desk and when it was nine, he woke Betty up. She moaned and pulled the covers over her head, Jughead climbed back into the bed and spooned her, it wasn’t sexual or anything because of the fabric between them but it was enough to pester Betty into getting out of bed.

“Come on! Shower and get changed, we have an exciting day ahead of us.” Jughead said tugging her arm.

She got out reluctantly and rubbed her eyes. “I thought you said we couldn’t plan anything beforehand.”

“I did say that.” He held up his pamphlet. “We’re doing things on this today.”

Betty knew she hadn’t seen that one yet because of the different colour scheme. “I never saw that one! What’s on it?” She asked curiously. Jughead was shoving clothes that she had prepared the night before into her hands.

“It’s a surprise. But I want breakfast so can we please get down there before it closes.” Jughead said with a smile. She nodded and tried to walk tirelessly into the bathroom.Once she was done they hurriedly got into the lift and into the restaurant. Jughead sat down and told her to go first. She got more food today just in case Jughead hadn’t planned anywhere to eat, which seemed unlikely as he loved eating but could be a possibility if she didn’t know any better.

Jughead watched as Betty came back with two plates, double what she had for breakfast yesterday. “Betts, don’t eat too much we-”

“Says the guy who’ll probably have five different pieces of bread because they’re all toasted differently and needs to be tasted at the same time for reliable results.” She put her plates down.

Jughead paused to think. It could've been taken the wrong way, like he was telling her not to eat too much because of her weight. “I mean, we’re going to some cheesecake diner. You pay like a full price and then try all their flavors, there are more than fifty. I just heard the couple sitting on the table next to us talk about how much they enjoyed it yesterday.” he clarified.

“A cheesecake food tour.” Betty thought about it before nodding. “Okay. I won’t eat as much.” She hadn’t really been offended when Jughead told her not to eat too much, she knew that he wouldn’t say anything about her appearance like she was self conscious about. Although Archie always said those few words or made similar requests, her mind just didn’t go straight there with Jughead, it was refreshing in a way. Jughead also didn’t get as much food as yesterday, although he did get an unnecessary amount of bagels (his excuse was indeed what Betty said about the toast and getting positive results), it wasn’t too much to make him full.

When Jughead finally found the place they were looking for, they got their car and drove off. The weather was slightly warmer and the snow on the ground was turning slushie like. They parked right outside of The Cheesecake Bay, Jughead and Betty squealed to one another as they walked in, the scent of all the baked goods immediately rushing through their nose as they entered. It was like a museum for cheesecakes, pictures were hung up with lots of writing beneath it, there were buttons you could click that would tell you more background information, fun facts were on the tiles of the floor, and the best part was the gift store. Betty awed over the soft cheesecake keychain that had a face on it and even though Jughead was insistent on her buying it, she said that she didn’t have the kind of money to throw around. So he bought it for her when she was looking at other things, it could always be another gift sometime later, he hid it at the bottom of his bag.

“Group number three, could you please line up by the reception.” a voice blared through the speakers. Jughead glanced down at their tickets before taking Betty’s hand and pulling her out. They lined up behind a group of tourists possibly from France, neither of them could tell which language they were speaking. The large doors that were three feet high, opened wide revealing a posh and extravagant dining hall with waiters bustling around with plates of cheesecakes in their hands. Jughead was so surprised to see the huge display of fresh cakes, if he were a cartoon character, his jaw would’ve dropped to his feet. Betty was more interested in the interior design and quickly took the camera out of Jughead’s bag to take photos of the walls and when Jughead asked, the cheesecake wheel. They were seated next to a family of four, the two adults were so obviously over trying every single flavour. whilst their children was still putting forkful of cheesecakes in their small mouths.

Someone came to them with a wide smile, Betty wondered if it was true or just planted on their faces, working with cheesecakes didn’t seem all that bad but if you had to deal with it everyday, she would be bored as well. “Good morning.” She greeted. The waiter replied with the same polite voice before taking another breath. “I’ll be your waiter for today, my name is Marco, you can call me over if you need any assistance. Welcome to Cheesecake Bay. We have six dozen different flavours and you will be able to try a slice of every one. If you like one so much, you could even order a second slice or a full one to take back home! All our cakes are baked fresh daily and we take great pride in making them as authentically as possible. Would you like to start with the fruits or the country’s and textures.” Marco spoke energetically.

Jughead looked over at Betty who’s face told him that she had no preference. “Fruits first, please.” he replied looking back up at Marco.

Marco scribbled something down in a notepad. “Good choice. I’ll be right back.” He turned on his heel and disappeared in seconds.

Somebody else came to them with a full plate of a dozen cheesecakes, they didn’t say anything as they put down the plate. He straightened his back and just as he was about to walk away, he stopped. “This is plate A1. Before you ask if there’s a cooler name, there isn’t, we call it A1 in the kitchen. There’s a variety of different fruits and if you’re curious as to which one you’re eating, there is a menu by the displays, you just look at the fruit section and then subsection one. When you’re done, you can call over your designated waiter and ask for the next plate or ‘plate A2’ but he or she will know what your next plate is anyways. Enjoy.” The waiter said with a bow. He talked for awhile yet he never mentioned his name.

Jughead took out his camera, and like every other foodie, took several pictures of the cakes from different angles. He also took a few pictures of Betty eyeing the rasberry one, before she noticed and smiled at the lense. She knew that there was a lot to eat so she only took a bite of each and let Jughead eat the other two thirds. There was nothing especially amazing about the eight she just had, she had to admit that ‘Lemon Dazzle’ did have a rich flavor to it but not something she’d never had before. She continued to look through the menu while Jughead devoured the cakes, and was excited to try a few like ‘The matcha heaven’ and ‘A velvety Christmas’ which was a Christmas special that only came at this time of the year. Before today, she didn’t know that there was so much variety to cheesecakes. The only kind she had ever baked at home was the blueberry kind. She tried making a cookies and cream one as well for Chic’s bake sale and nobody bought it, he told her it was because the slices were too big just to make her feel better, she doubted if even he liked it so he ate four slices to prove it and had a stomach ache that night.

Four dozen cheesecakes and a full stomach later, Betty found her one true love. The japanese cheesecake. She closed her eyes as she took another bite, moaning in complete bliss. Jughead himself was very full and was looking for any excuse not to wolf down the Italian ricotta cheesecake, Betty’s involuntary sound made his head snap up and he reached for his camera. She was going to eat it all, there was only a mouthful left and she hadn’t even saved anything for Jughead.

She put down the fork and smiled lopsidedly. “Sorry, I barely saved you any of this japanese cheesecake. It’s just so good! So fluffy! So jiggly! So not-as-sweet-or-cheesy-as-regular-cheesecake!”

“Is this cheesecake that impressive.” he asked, just two cakes before that one she was complaining about how she felt like her stomach weighed three times as much as it did before the trip and how she was about to break the chair. “You haven’t shown any particular interest to any slices before this one.” He, himself never had japanese cheesecake before, and apparently Betty hadn’t either, there wasn’t anything like that in Riverdale.

“Juggie, it’s amazing. Heavenly. Mouth watering. Actually no words can describe this. I could eat it for the rest of my life. You must try.” Betty bobbled her head up and down enthusiastically. Jughead wanted to take a picture of her excitement, but then it’d ruin the moment and he already had hundreds of pictures from this trip of her with matching expressions and this could just be an image in his head.

He tilted his head to one side. “Well if you say it like that, as tempting as it could be, I think you should have the last bite since you love it so much.”

She shook her head vigorously. “No. No. You need to try it. And we can always order a full cake if we wanted, remember what Marco said?”

That seemed like many hours ago already, Jughead had no idea how anyone managed to five dozen cheesecakes in one sitting. Even he, the one who had a stomach for anything and everything couldn’t do it. “Okay, I’ll have it. I say we should buy another cake just in case you already start having cravings later.” He picked up his own fork and took the last bit off the plate, Betty watched him eagerly.

She was feeling jumpy as he slowly swallowed. “So? Thoughts? Praise?”

He didn’t reply, instead he pushed his chair back and stood up, looking around for a waiter. Marco saw him from meters away and rushed over to their table. “Is something wrong? Are you looking for the bathroom?” he asked quickly.

Betty looked up at Jughead, she had no idea what he was doing.

“Uhhh-” Jughead furrowed his brows at Marco. “No-”

“Oh, apologies. We get that a lot actually, by the fourth plate. You’re doing pretty well for youngsters.” Marco nodded. Betty tried to push away her first disgusting thought.

“We… would like to order… umm - uh…” Jughead turned to face Betty for help, she shrugged, having no clue as to what he was trying to say. “Ah yes. We’d like two more… full… japanese? Japanese… japanese cheesecakes.”

Marco took out his notepad. “Are you sure? You don’t seem very sure. Also two cakes are quite expensive.”

“Expensive? You guys said that this whole cheesecake tour thing wasn’t expensive and that’s like a whole month of work for us.” Betty quickly interjected. Jughead raised his hand to her face, telling her not to speak. He leaned into Marco’s ear and whispered what the price was, Marco in turn did the same and Jughead tried not show his surprise.

He breathed in deeply. All the standing was making his cheesecake filled belly weigh him down to the floor. “That’s a price we’re willing to pay.” Jughead said firmly. Truthfully, it wasn’t too much. Maybe a bit excessive for two small cakes but it clearly made Betty extremely happy and he wouldn’t be able to get this anywhere in Riverdale, he was certainly not going to Japan any time soon. Marco nodded and then waddled away stiffly. Jughead smiled at Betty who was staring sort of sadly at the mexican sopapilla cheesecake bar. He laughed at her little pout, it was adorable and he didn’t know if his heart could handle much more of this.

They left an hour afterwards. Four slices of cheesecake was left uneaten, except for the small bite Betty had off the corner because she felt like it’d be a huge accomplishment, her trying 58 different cheesecakes in one day, that she could tell Chic about later. It was already almost one and Betty didn’t even mention lunch, the thought of eating more in the next couple of hours made her want to puke. Jughead felt the same way, he held the two boxes of cheesecakes, one on each hand before reaching the car and giving it to Betty. They both got on with a groan as neither of them wanted to sit down again.

Jughead started driving, he made the conscious decision not to put the direct address on the GPS so that the next activity was still a surprise to her. “Where are we going, Jug?” She asked, realising his smart move.

“Why do you think I even tried to use another destination, it’s a surprise.” He said with a wink. When they were eight and eating oranges that they pulled off of trees at her neighbors house, neither of them would call that flirting, but now they both couldn’t deny where the wink came from and how it affected the both of them.

\---------------------------------------------------------

Jughead parked the car right outside of their driveway before helping Betty out and pulling the bags from the boot. It was three in the afternoon, the weather was cooler and not a single lump of snow was on the street. Betty already missed the scene at Harmony Valley, Jughead did too, she could tell because of his aspirated sigh. They walked to the door and at once, put the bags down on the floor. Betty looked through her purse for her keys.

“I think it may be in the other bag, could you check this one?” She asked, handing he wallet to him and kneeling down besides one of her slightly smaller baggages. She fumbled through all the zips before taking out a small coin purse. “Ahah!” she said, waving it in the air. She stood up and put it through the keyhole, she turned around to look back at Jughead only to find his attention on something over their heads.

“What are-” she looked up too. “Oh…” Hanging right above them was mistletoe, no doubt from Elena, their housekeeper. Elena had her own garden and every year since Betty was nine, and she started working for them, she brought in mistletoe that she had grown and hung it up in the most common places so that people would have an excuse to kiss. It was mostly for the Christmas parties that Alice held and invited like half of Riverdale’s population to their house. Betty, Polly, Chic and Elena liked to laugh at how stiff they were and as a joke, started hanging mistletoe and making it a competition to see who got the most awkward kiss.

“Oh, indeed.” Jughead said. Technically it wasn’t Christmas, she didn’t know if it only came into effect on the day.

Still, she left the key in the door and walked closer to Jughead who was now looking at her with unclear eyes, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Either, she didn’t really know him as much as she thought she did or his feelings developed drastically since his prepubescent child years and he had ambiguous feelings.

“Definitely the second one.” he said sternly. She realised that she said it out loud and started blushing the way she always did around him, starting from the top of her ears and then working it’s way down. Yes, Jughead had been looking. Maybe a little too close, but not in a creepy way at all. When neither of them spoke, Betty went on her tiptoes and closed the gap between them with a kiss on his cheek. Technically it was closer to his lips than anything else and he stood there motionless. It was longer than your usual cheek kiss, or kiss you give your best friend who has feelings for you that you don’t know about. She pulled away and went back to where she was standing a few seconds ago, tucking her hair behind her ears. It was down again and Jughead prefered it over her tight and perfect ponytail, it was nice more than anything to the both of them that she could let loose and not be her best self every second she was awake. The kiss still lingered on his skin and he told himself that it was just a friendly kiss. Betty did too because somehow after that, she felt like it was pretty close to cheating on Archie and she would never want to be on that side of a relationship. She kissed many guys on the cheek, Kevin, boys from the football team, professors at colleges she was attending lectures at, so on and so forth, but none of them meant anything. Maybe Jughead was different?

He smiled warmly at her, which was a good move for the both of them. “What was that for?”

She thought about it. The answer could be many things and it went a lot deeper than just ‘we were standing under mistletoe and it’s a rule to kiss.’ She shrugged and smiled back up at him. “For the last three days. For doing all those things to make me happy. For cutting down that specific tree.” she pointed at the car where their Christmas tree was hauled over the roof. “Because I liked it, even though the workers said the timber was too stiff. For taking me to watch wolf sledding races because I said that it was cool, once, when we were seven. The cinema you said was a must do because neither of us has been in one since our last year together in Australia. And remembering that I loved Mamma Mia, and still do because I mentioned in a letter to you three years ago. I guess I could list every single thing we did there, but we don’t have the time and I bet we’re both starting to feel cold. Just… thanks for being so thoughtful and charismatic and just - being you.” She concluded. It didn’t really express what she was thinking but she figured it was good enough.

Jughead took a moment to absorb all of it. The trip meant just as much to him as it did to her and he didn’t know how she could summarise it so well, he definitely couldn’t.

“Thank you for being you.” he replied simply. It wasn’t a lot but Betty knew where his heart was and suddenly her Christmas holiday wasn’t as bad as she expected it to be a week ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slow update. I can't guarantee when the next one will be posted, if it isn't next week then maybe the week after, I don't have as much time to write with school so I'm really sorry. 
> 
> Anyways thanks for the kudos, comments and bookmarks! Give me any suggestions for this fic (aside from Archie and Betty breaking up because I'm already writing that into the fic)


	11. x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay i'm so so sorry for the SUPER long update. The last time I updated I said it'd be a couple weeks before the next update and needless to say, it has been a lot longer than that. This chapter has actually been ready for a couple months, i just sort of forgot about it amongst all my other school work. It's christmas break now and I have a new fic idea so I'm going to start working on this again and finish this before starting another. 
> 
> For random people who want to chat, my tumblr username is peppermintyc ; https://www.tumblr.com/blog/peppermintyc  
> but there's honestly nothing on it except for some reblogs < i'm just hoping to make a friend. we can talk about anything. 
> 
> Okay anyways; hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a little long but I didn't want to shorten it down because there's some good stuff here ;)

Betty started bullet journaling. She saw it all over her pinterest dashboard after she searched up school organization once, and although she was curious and intrigued by the activity, she put it on hold for a year because it just seemed too time consuming. She got a pastel pink hardcover journal (like half of the things in her closet), with her name engraved in the corner as a Christmas present from Polly. And seeing as she meant to start this art several months ago, she figured she would just try now. Her mom said it was a good idea, to help her manage her stress, saying that her new year’s resolution was to stick with it and not just abandon it when she got tired of writing repeatedly. She started early, although as she drew her calendar, she didn’t include December. Betty soon realised that she loved spending her leisure time on it, it consisted of everything she loved: topics, page numbers, short sentences and bullet points.

The hour after they all had their family dinner, Betty went back into her room with Jughead and whilst he sat by her window, typing rapidly with his sudden new idea for his novel, Betty lay on her bed and took out all her pens. She wrote headers and then once everything was arranged, she started writing down her thoughts under December.

The page went like this;

_**December 2017.** _

_**> Harmony Valley:** _  
_**Jughead** _  
_**Snow!!** _  
_**Cheesecake** _

There was more to the trip than the three things, but she wanted to keep it short and not like her diary. Jughead was first obviously because she enjoyed his company more than anything, she felt that they were even closer now if that was possible. Snow was absent to the eye in Riverdale and even though the weather channel said there would be light snow, it never came. Jughead was right to order two cheesecakes, they already finished a whole one that same night and when they got back, they willed themselves not to finish it all whilst waiting for the rest of Betty’s family to come home. Every time either of them opened the fridge, the other would have to make sure that they didn’t steal a slice. Betty desperately wanted to go back, not only for the cheesecake though, it was half the reason why, but also because it was one of the most fun things she had done all year.

_**> Chic and Polly!** _  
_**A leather covered journal and a popcorn machine** _  
_**They both like the presents** _

They exchanged gifts a day early, so that they could practice their reactions in front of their parents. Betty actually got Chic and Polly’s gift in November, she had it hidden underneath her bed and was excited to finally give it. She got Polly a pair of army green, tall combat boots because she remembered her searching them up the last time she was in Riverdale, thankfully they were her size because the receipt ran out of colour. For Chic, she got him customised matching pillows of his cats for his new apartment in New York. He found a job, to Alice’s relief and found a rent controlled apartment there, adopting two elderly cats who slept all day. He said that if Betty were to go to school in New York, she could have a bedroom and stay with him but she already knew that the chance of going to NYU was slim.

_**> My new snowglobe** _  
_**Thank you jughead :)** _

Jughead’s gift to her was everything she wanted it to be. Heartfelt and all him. He did not disappoint with the handmade snowglobe. Inside were little clay figures, a boy sitting down with a beanie on his head and a girl dressed in light pink standing up, looking over him. There was also a christmas tree, and mini presents underneath it. She wondered how long it took for him to make this but didn’t ask because she was too invested in shaking it and watching the ‘snow’ drizzle down slowly. The snowflakes were skintillating and iridescent glitters and she watched as it fell over the clay figure’s head. Her gift to him wasn’t handmade, it was an old fashioned typewriter. She found it at an antique store, the only one in Riverdale, it didn’t work very well and was very frustrating but she figured that it’d look cool on display. He seemed to really like it which made her feel less bad about her gift compared to his.

_**> Grandma.** _  
_**Sent us pictures from the beach house** _  
_**Delivered fuzzy stockings and Christmas jumpsuits** _

Her mom’s mom lived in Fiji which was quite close to their beach house in Australia. She invited herself in, something she did regularly whenever she was travelling, but Alice and Hal didn’t have a problem with it because it needed to be put to use anyways. She skyped them from their deck chairs and whilst she was enjoying the sun and beach weather, they were posing with the jumpsuits that were sent over and trying to hide away from the cold.

 

_**> New Year’s Eve!!** _  
_**FIRECRACKERS** _  
_**Bake off.** _

Betty planned a morning to spend with Archie because he arrived the night before but he cancelled at the last minute and although they lived a quick drive away from each other, neither were bothered to make an effort to see each other. Chic and Polly were starting to pack as they were leaving as soon as the new year’s dinner ended and her parents went to a Saturday brunch with a couple of friends. She sat on the couch reading the same chapter for the fifth time, sighing because her mind couldn't focus. With another huge sigh, she picked up her phone to ask if Jughead wanted to come over. He did. By 1:00, they started their own masterchef with baked goods and were constantly bickering to each other about who got which ingredients. At night, as their neighbors stood out in their own front yards, they chanted a count down to the sky. Jughead and Betty stood in the middle of the street, thankfully there were no cars, and set off their own firecrackers as they got to 12:00. She started the new year with a warm hug, undoubtedly with Jughead. And then they each stuffed three cookies into their mouths for good luck (a tradition they started when the first became friends and continued until he left).

Jughead slept over because it was too dark for him to drive back on his motorbike. Chic and Polly left with a tight squeeze, they were both upset watching them leave and distracted themselves on Netflix. She woke up on January 1st, arm brushed against his and she felt like this could be her year.

 

January flew by faster than she imagined. They all had a final essay but other than that, the only added pressure was writing college applications which Betty and Jughead already did early. They didn’t send out acceptance letters until April and Betty was nervous about the wait. Veronica started to have a crush on Brody, one of the new transfer students at the start of the semester. She would ramble on for hours to Betty about how intelligent he was, taking a year off before starting college to pursue his passion for music, how charming he was, when he helped her open the door and brought her to her next class and so on. Betty didn’t want her friend to fall hard for him so she befriended Brody to see what he was up to. She asked Jughead to go with her to check on him after their tutoring on Thursday.

He raised his eyebrows at her, but he knew that Veronica liked Brody and she was probably just trying to help, yet he couldn’t stop himself from teasing her. “Are you turning into the not-girlfriend stalker?” she slapped him once. “Undercover sleuthing 101, wear bright pastel cardigans to avoid being caught.” a slap on his other arm. “Are you trying to get him for yourself? Is that what this is? You wanted him before Veronica did and now you two are jealous of one another, not speaking and neck to neck for his attention. Is there going to be a love triangle?”

That did not get him a slap. Instead she stood still and waited for him to realise that she wasn’t walking by his side anymore. When Jughead turned around and saw her expression, he thought he went too far and opened his mouth to apologise, only to close his because Betty beat him to it. “Why does the entire world like to put women against each other. Why must there be a rivalry that stops us from being friends. Can’t we just have strong female friendships without fighting for some guy. If Veronica and I will ever like the same person, I’d let her have it, I’m not risking my friendship for a boyfriend.” She blinked slowly before walking like nothing happened.

Betty did actually stalk very well, it was all the years reading Nancy Drew and doing things for the Blue and Gold (Just a cover, it was never published) combined. She told Jughead to drive them down to the only mall in Riverdale and they waited close to the exit by his bike, Betty said that Brody planned to come here three times but cancelled every week but she was sure that he was coming today. Like clockwork, Brody came out from the back with a girl by his side. The girl was similar height to him, also had the same shade of brown hair except hers was straight and his, curly, she looked about his age or maybe a year younger, but she couldn’t tell for sure.

“Damn it.” Betty whispered. Jughead was also sad for Veronica and suddenly wished they didn’t try to find out. “What will I tell her, Juggie.” she thought about Veronica’s reaction. Brody and his potential girlfriend didn’t walk through the front doors and Betty tried to read their lips. All she could make out was ‘thirsty’ and she had no idea what that meant before Jughead gasped. “They’re walking to the Juice bar. He’ll see us for sure.” panic started to set through him, he didn’t want to be on the bad side of another football player.

The bike was only a couple meters besides the shop and they didn’t have enough time to get on and drive away. As they neared, Betty searched her head for some ideas and impulsively set her lips on his, pushing him towards the bike, only showing their sides. Jughead hesitated for a second before opening his mouth and letting her tongue in, he knew it was just for show but couldn’t help the response of his tongue tangling with hers. She caressed his cheek in her palm and with her other hand, took off her hair tie in one swift motion to let it run loose, even Brody who hadn’t known her for long would be able to recognize the ponytail. After slipping the band around her wrist, she pulled off Jughead’s beanie as well and pushed it in his jacket pocket, it took almost no thinking at all because she was so used to everything about him, including the jacket he wore all the time. She also lost herself in the kiss and only woke up when they both pulled away for air in sync.

He was the first to catch his breath and turn away from her, Brody and the girl were walking back towards the mall, with a cup of juice each. The taste of her still lingered on his lips, lavender and lemon didn’t describe it but was the closest he could get. “That was… interesting.” she said with an awkward laugh. He didn’t know how to reply, all he knew was that he was getting more smitten by the hours. He dropped her off at her house and when they texted at night, they didn’t bring up the kiss. The next day at school, Veronica and Betty walked out together, ready for their sleepover and Betty felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Brody talking to the same girl. Veronica must’ve seen it too but she smiled wildly when Brody and his company walked towards them.

Thankfully Betty hadn’t told Veronica that he was dating someone because the words that left his mouth were. “Guys, meet my older sister, Bethany. She’s here to visit.”

Bethany ran her fingers through the hair, making an undefined hairline just like Brody always does. “Visiting my baby bro. You guys must be Veronica and Betty! I’ve heard so much about you.”

Veronica laughed flirtatiously. “Good things I hope?”

“Definitely good things.” Brody said, though it wasn’t really to anyone besides from Veronica. Betty smiled at her friend’s happiness and their cute little moment as if his sister and her best friend weren’t there.

Archie and Betty’s third year anniversary was also on January. There wasn’t anything big, Archie didn’t even remember and Betty wasn’t expecting him to. Still, she bought him a pair of earphones that he had been wanting for a while, and was only slightly disappointed when all he did was pick a flower from outside of Pop’s and gave her a takeaway milkshake that was warm by the time it was in her hands. She told Veronica who of course, freaked out and said that she should dump him, claiming that she deserves someone who would treat her like a queen. Sometimes Betty wondered if her relationship with Archie made Veronica stop being friends with him and even resent him.

 

February came and it was also not the most busy month they had. Veronica and Brody became a couple and for Valentine’s day, invited Betty and Archie for a double date at the Spanish restaurant by the edge of Greendale, because the only restaurant in Riverdale besides the ones at the mall was Pop’s chock’lit shop. When Archie said that he couldn’t make it because of something he had planned with Reggie, Betty told them to enjoy their date. She found out on the day that Veronica asked Jughead to go with Betty, and at six, he showed up with a rose and his motorbike, unexpectedly. She took almost no convincing after her parents started raising eyebrows at each other and making dirty jokes in front of her.

“I don’t know…” Betty sighed. “I have a lot of homework and assignments and…” Betty started listing things to get her out of it. She did feel a little bad that Jughead even agreed to go and she was declining him, but Veronica probably guilted him into doing this. Little did she know that Jughead already got her a rose anyways, he did it every year before he left for Chester and he suspected that she forgot so this was a cover.

Jughead chuckled. “Says the girl who is literally playing with a bubble machine.” He pointed at her window where bubbles were slowly appearing. “Look, I won’t force you to come, it’s your own decision. But a girl like you shouldn’t be alone listening to her parents do _it_ on valentine’s day.” She wanted to ask what kind of girl he thought she was but then made the greater decision not to because it could’ve seemed like flirting. “Veronica kinda booked a table for four, she said if I asked then maybe you would agree to come-”

“She’s not wrong.” she smiled warmly at him.

The ends of his lips tilted up as well. “So is that a yes?”

“Is that it? No begging or tears.” she said teasingly and saw his expression change into seriousness. “That’s a joke. Don’t beg”

He nodded slowly. “But it’s a yes if I somehow find it in me to cry?” He brushed the odd curl away from his eye. “Okay last resort. You see my motorbike?”

Betty pursed her lips. “Kinda hard to miss. Especially with the engine still on.”

“I’ll teach you how to drive it. I know you don’t have a driver’s permit yet but you can get away with literally anything here and it won’t be like you driving it constantly.”

“I’m listening…”

He walked backwards to his bike. “That’s it.” he threw his arms up. “Also, I kind of brought your helmet as well.” he held up her pastel pink helmet in his hand which he made sure wouldn’t blend in with the all black bike and his own helmet.

“Are you guilt tripping me into going to this thing.” she asked with her eyebrows raised. “Shame on you, Forsythe Pendleton Jones III.”

“You’re using my full name for this. I guess that means you really don’t want to have dinner with us. I’ll get going now.” he said softly, a little bit of humour was in his tone but otherwise it seemed like disappointment.

Betty shut her eyes tight. “Fine, fine. I’ll go with you.” she sighed. He turned back to face her with a smile. “Just let me change out of my pajamas.” She said motioning to her sweatpants and a spongebob shirt that was three sizes too big for her.

“I’ll be here.”

She ran back into the house and up the stairs, quickly closing the door behind her. After her shower an hour ago, she hadn’t combed her hair so it was just in loose bun, all her makeup was rubbed off and she didn’t even have clothes prepared or ironed. She swung open her closet door, pulling her bun out and scanning over her options. Betty muttered to herself as she pulled the fabric out of it’s folded form and throwing it onto the floor when she didn’t like it. In the end, she chose a high waisted denim skirt that stopped mid thighs with buttons going all the way down, a white shirt with little ladybugs on it and a thin lilac sweater over that. She folded the collar and sleeves up in front of the mirror, before putting a bit of lip gloss and combing her hair with her fingers, leaving it to hang over her shoulders because she simply didn’t have enough time to tie it into her usual ponytail. Betty grabbed her purse and phone before walking back down, her parents were sitting on the sofa with a single glass of wine (not for any sexual reason, just because Hal didn’t like to drink). In other circumstances, they wouldn’t have let her go out for dinner with her friends in the middle of the week let alone halfway across Riverdale. But it was Jughead and they had a very obvious soft spot for him. They eagerly waved goodbye as she closed the door behind her.

Jughead was already sitting on his motorbike and she could see his beanie underneath his helmet. Her pink one was right behind him and she picked it up, fastened it, and settled her butt on the back seat. It was uncomfortable the first time she ever got on but she found her position over the dozens of times she rode on his bike.

They stopped at a traffic light and Jughead looked over his shoulder. “You look amazing, by the way.” he grinned at her.

She wrapped her arms around him tighter and laughed as she tried to hide her face against his back, embarrassed. He loved that he made her do that, blush, and although she always tried to cover it up, it was hard not to notice.

When the light turned green, he pushed the pedal and drove off. When Betty thought the motor was too loud and the cars drove past with a boisterous wind, she returned the smile. “You look amazing too, Juggie.” her voice was gentle and he wouldn’t be able to hear it if not for their close proximity.

He parked the bike in the car park next to the restaurant before helping Betty off. She soothed out her skirt after it was blown by the wind and Jughead removed his helmet. He helped unbuckle her helmet too, setting both of them on the seats and tucking her hair behind her ears. She smiled shyly up at him and he wished that he could just kiss her there and then. He put his hands to his beanie to control himself and after fiddling with it for a brief moment, motioned to the entrance.

The waitress at the front lead them to a table by the windows, Brody and Veronica were too lost in their own conversation to register their arrival. Betty smiled sheepishly at Jughead as they sat down across from them, she noted how close her best friend was sitting next to her date’s side instead of across from each other. Veronica was the first to notice them and she rambled on about how she knew Jughead would be able to convince Betty to come.

“We haven’t ordered yet, we were waiting for you guys to arrive.” Brody slid the two paged menu to Jughead and Veronica did the same for Betty.

Betty read through the menu. “Mmmm” she muttered as she looked at the pictures.

“I’m getting the cured ham. It’s really the best thing they make in my opinion. Jughead you should try it.” Veronica pointed at the picture, Jughead nodded but he already knew what he was going to get and it wasn’t her recommendation.

“You know what I’m gonna get?” Betty said to no one in particular.

Jughead quickly scanned through the menu again. “Yeah, you’re gonna get the seafood paella and order the mushroom croquettes side dish.”

Veronica and Betty arched an eyebrow in his direction. “That’s exactly what I’m gonna get.” Betty said with a small and unsure grin.

“Yep-” he said casually. “but you won’t be able to finish the croquettes so you’ll ask someone else to share with you.”

Brody laughed. “Very insightful… are we ready to order?” They all nodded. Despite herself, Betty still ordered the croquettes knowing that Jughead was 100% correct. She excused herself to the bathroom after the waiter left.

Once she was out of earshot, Veronica cried ooh la la. “Super impressive. I doubt anyone else would know that.”

Jughead knew she was teasing him and he tried not to give her the reaction she wanted. “It’s part of the best friend rulebook.” he shrugged. “You gotta know each other’s usual orders.”

Veronica shook her head “Archie wouldn’t know. I just wish she’d break up with him already. Y’know what, I’m going to deal with this.”

“You’re not going to… um… kill him right?” Brody asked, butting into the conversation.

Veronica gasped “Gosh! No!”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.” Jughead chuckled.

She kicked him hard underneath the table and glared at him. “No... I’m going to find some incriminating evidence against him, which I know there is, and gift some sense into Betty.”

“ _Gift_ some sense into her? Interesting word choice.” Brody smiled at her, obviously so smitten.

Veronica returned the same smile. “Well, knock some sense into her makes it sound like she doesn’t have any, and she does.” She said, turning back to face Jughead. “If only she’d use it on her own happiness.”

He cleared his throat and pulled Betty’s chair out for her as she came back to the table.

The dinner was surprisingly the best thing Betty did all month, in her opinion. She felt at ease and enjoyed every part of it, Jughead was one of the main reasons why, she thought they connected even more emotionally after dinner when he brought her home. They sat outside on her driveway for half an hour because the entire house was dark except for the light coming from her parent’s room, Betty didn’t want to risk seeing her parents naked for the third time since being a teenager so they waited outside until their bedroom was also dark. If Archie wasn’t busy, and did go on the date, she would’ve worn one of Polly’s dresses because Archie would have insisted. But Jughead didn’t mind that she chose an almost knee length skirt and a sweater, he even complimented how cute she looked. It may as well have been flirting but she couldn’t deny that she didn’t do the same.

 

It was the first week of March and any sign of winter had vanished overnight. Betty stood in the Blue and Gold office arranging the fresh papers and sticking post it notes on the top for the classes, Veronica was leaning by the door frame, which Betty allowed her to do until Jughead came from his class.

“Well, B… it’s going to be the middle of March in a few weeks time, I say we start planning our party now.” Veronica suggested. Both their birthdays were in March, Veronica’s on the 19th and Betty’s on the 27th. Veronica loved throwing birthday parties and as her best friend, Betty was obligated to combine events. Personally, she’d much rather just sit on her bed and write some essays for fun but even if she didn’t like the actual party, she liked making Veronica happy and the joy it brought her when she agreed to plan it together.

Betty looked up from the post it note she was doodling on. “Yeah, I agree. What are we thinking? A movie?”

“We did that for our fourteenth birthday B. And I was thinking something big, it’s going to be the last party we’ll have with everyone in our year before we all branch off away from Riverdale.” Veronica nodded at Jughead when he walked in and he replied with a nod himself.

“Sorry I’m late, had to finish some Spanish essay.” Jughead said to Betty who shook her head.

“It’s fine, I was talking to Veronica anyways.” Betty turned to the sofa where Veronica invited herself onto. “How big are we thinking?”

“Like the entire football team, because of course Brody” she said as if that was a valid reason. “And Archie. The full cheer squad, we don’t want to face the wrath of Cheryl if she finds out she wasn’t invited to the party. The pussycat dolls. All the usual from primary. Your office friends. And yeah.”

Betty and Jughead had matching expressions, their jaws dropped and eyes wide with shock. Jughead cleared his throat. “I think I’m speaking for the both of us when I say that that’s a lot of people.”

“I said I wanted to make it big, special.” Veronica exclaimed.

There was a moment of silence before Betty swallowed hard. “If that’s what you want, V… I’m open to it as long as we have it under control. Now it’s just finding some place for it.” Both Veronica and Jughead were stunned to hear that it didn’t even take much convincing at all.

“Oh my gosh!!” Veronica squealed.

“Really?” Jughead wanted to make sure he heard correctly.

Veronica kicked him lightly with her heel. “Don’t you dare try to discourage her!” She looked at Betty with a toothy grin. “I’m already so excited!” She ran up to hug her.

“We’re compromising over the exact head count though.” Betty said into Veronica’s hair. Jughead helped himself into a chair, thinking that it was going to be a long conversation.

Veronica nodded quickly and pulled away. “So where do you want to do the party?”

Betty looked at her with her eyebrows raised and a small smirk. “I know you already have an idea. And I also know you just want to include me in this planning process but I promise I’m fine if you plan everything, you enjoy it more anyways.”

Veronica sighed. “You’re too good for me, B. I was thinking a beach barbecue.”

“As in at the shore?” Betty asked.

“Yes.”

After a moment if hesitation, Betty nodded slowly. “Sure.” Veronica excitedly jumped up and down before getting a call from Smithers, he was at the entrance and she waved bye to both Jughead and Betty before running out of the room.

Jughead waited until he could no longer hear the sound of Veronica’s heels along the corridor. “That’s nice of you to go with her idea, but you know it's as much your party as it is hers.” He looked at Betty who was trying to pick up the stack of papers.

She shrugged. “I guess so but my ideal party is just baking my own cake and reading on my bed. I’m used to it.”

Jughead remembered her seventh birthday when they did exactly that. He admired her selflessness, amongst many of her other great attributes, and he knew then that he’d have to give her that kind of birthday.

When Jughead didn’t pursue the matter, Betty thought she said something wrong but when she looked up at him, he wasn’t even trying to hide his gaze. She felt herself blushing and turned away quickly, handing him another stack of papers. “Here.” she pushed it to his chest. He paused before taking it from her hands. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked with wide eyes. It seemed like a good moment to kiss her, Jughead thought, but she was still with Archie and didn’t share the same feelings. He probably stared too long and she felt self conscious.

“umm… is there something wrong?” Betty asked in a low voice.

He snapped out if it. “No, no. Course not. I’m excited for you.”

“Ah.” Betty tried to push their moment to the back of her mind. “I see what this is. Yes, you’re invited, Juggie. You’re the only person I can think of that I actually want at the party.”

Jughead tried not to think too much into that, she was probably just being nice. “Yes, those were my very thoughts.” he replied sarcastically. She playfully shoved him and they walked out.

 

It was the 23rd of March and Betty and Veronica were already late to their own party. Veronica, being the diva she secretly was, wanted to make an entrance and insisted Betty pretend with her that they couldn’t find their swimsuits. Betty was appalled by that idea but when Veronica hid her swimsuit, she had no choice but to play along. Betty searched Veronica’s room for possible places while Veronica was splayed out on her bed in her swimsuit, answering texts asking where they were. When Veronica got the thirtieth text, credits to Ethel, she gave back Betty’s swimsuit which was hidden under the blanket she was laying on. Betty rolled her eyes and in order to save time, stripped in front of her, it wasn’t weird because they’d seen each other naked before, after being friends since before they were teenagers, it was basically unavoidable. She slipped back on her shorts and pulled her top over her head before grabbing their duffels and motioning to Veronica’s door.

Courtesy of Smithers, they got to the beach in ten minutes. It was a Saturday but the only people at the beach were their friends, or Veronica’s friends. The lack of people showed that most of the Riverdale population was afraid to get sunburnt by going to the beach, it was warm and the sky was bright with barely any clouds, when crowds were at the beach it would be because it wasn’t sunny and the breeze was strong. Betty was about to put on her sunglasses but refrained from doing so to be polite. She scanned over the crowd and almost wanted to roll her eyes. Veronica and Betty compromised on only the people in their year from the football team and cheer squad were to be invited, despite Veronica’s protest to invite all from both teams. They also invited a couple of mutual acquaintances, it was no secret that most of the people there were only there for Veronica and not Betty. In fact, she hardly even spoke to half of them and so when they all cheered at their arrival, she figured she’d just smile and bow her head while Veronica waved extravagantly.

Betty stood looking out to the ocean, trying to see if she could find Jughead. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned her head to the left, seeing nobody. This time she did roll her eyes at the joke and turned 180 degrees only to find Jughead holding in his laugh at how after so many years, he could still do that trick on her. Just as she was about to say something about how immature he was being, Archie, who was being chased out of the water, ran straight into Betty. His hard chest knocked her by the side and she fell backwards. All she could think about as she fell was oh no, oh no, oh no. But when she didn’t feel the sand touch her face, she opened her eyes and saw Jughead’s arms around her waist. He helped her up and she nodded a silent thank you.

Archie, who seemed to be unfazed by knocking down his own girlfriend, glared at Jughead with a scowl. “Get your hands off her man.” He demanded.

Betty shot Archie a look and wondered where this attitude came from. Jughead raised his hands in a surrender position with a disgusted face. “You’re the one that ran into her. I’m just trying to keep her safe.”

“No.” Archie said with a forceful voice. He took two steps towards Jughead and put his pointer finger to his chest. “Don’t-” stab from his finger. “Make me the bad guy here-” another strong stab with his finger nail. “You wanted to do that. You’re not the hero.” A shove, it didn’t make Jughead fly ten meters away but it was enough to make him stumble backwards.

Betty’s eyes widened and she didn’t hesitate to help Jughead. “What was that for, Arch!” She almost yelled.

Archie couldn’t even pretend to care. “I’m just protecting my girlfriend from low life’s like him.” he pointed at Jughead.

Jughead closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It wasn’t the first time he heard something like that, he was used to it growing up and although he had gotten used to it, it still stung when Archie said it so aggressively. He wanted to run away, the cowards choice, but Betty’s grip on his wrist tightened assuringly.

Betty shook her head disappointedly at Archie. “Why would you say that!?” This time she was definitely yelling but everyone was too busy partying with Veronica to hear her. “You don’t even know him. You haven’t tried to get to know him since he arrived. You just think he’s some threat to your huge ego. Well guess what, this isn’t the Archie show, it’s not all about you!”

“Honey, you’re spiraling. You know what he’s doing, come on let’s just go. It’s your birthday party, loosen up!” Archie raised his arm, waiting for Betty to put her hands in his, it didn’t come. After two seconds of rejection, he put down his own arm.

“Don’t _honey_ me. You have to apologise to Jughead, you’ve been so disrespectful and I’m not standing by it anymore.” She felt like she was telling off a six year old boy who took a classmates lunch but even that would be better than the position she was in now.

“Betts, it’s okay. Really” Jughead said to her quietly, the ‘really’ sounded like a warning. He half wanted Betty to remove her grip, because he didn’t want Archie to freak out even more. At the same time, he wished she would keep her hand there, it made him feel calm. She didn’t remove her touch, instead she looked at him with a soft facial expression, drastically different to her outrage a second ago.

Betty sighed. “It’s not okay.” she whispered to him. She pursed her lips and turned to face Archie. “Since Jughead says it’s okay, then I’m letting it go, but only because he says so. You should think about what you’ve said though and how you’ve treated him since his arrival, and only apologise if you mean it.” Betty nodded. She turned on her heel and walked away from him, Archie and Jughead stared as she strided over to Cheryl before they both walked in the opposite direction.

Betty huffed as she bent over to get underneath Cheryl’s umbrella. Cheryl had the fairest skin Betty had ever seen and she didn’t blame her for trying to keep it that way, standing under the shade of the trees away from everyone by the sea with a huge bottle of sunscreen by her side and an umbrella in her hands that looked like it could cover three people.

“Boy trouble?” Cheryl mumbled with a smirk. Clearly she was watching them earlier.

Betty groaned. “Why do boys have to be so annoying.”

“And that is why, my friend, you should crush on girls.” Cheryl came out over two years ago and in Riverdale, nobody really cared, she said she had known since she was little but was just afraid of what her mom might think. After coming out, she wasn’t ashamed of it and never tried to hide her feelings for girls anymore. Betty looked at her pointedly.

Cheryl snickered. “I’m half joking!” She admitted and Betty liked her honesty. “I think you’re mainly angry at Archie and not Jughead. It’s your birthday celebration, you shouldn’t have to baby them but Jughead seemed pretty upset so maybe talk to him? Again, I don’t know what boys are thinking, for all I know, Jughead could be chugging beer in that crowd.” Cheryl pointed at the group of topless guys and girls in bikinis that hardly covered anything.

Betty was already so frustrated and seeing Archie in crowd just made her want to pull her hair out. Did everything she just say go through one ear and out of the other without him registering it at all? She knew that Jughead wasn’t the kind to just walk around with his chest on display so she looked for a white sleeveless top. She spotted him standing by himself away from all the noise, looking out at the sea. She didn’t want to bother him and he was probably neck deep in his thoughts but she couldn’t stop herself from walking towards him.

Betty realised, after standing right next to him, that she didn’t know what to say. Jughead usually wouldn’t start a conversation so it depended on her to try. In the corner of her eye, she could see his curls blowing with the wind. “You’re not a low-life” She said simply, almost under her breath.

“You may as well be the only one who thinks that.” Jughead replied after a while. She almost thought he didn’t hear her.

Betty stopped watching the waves in the distance and turned her entire body to face him. “They don’t know you as well as I do.”

He didn’t smile, but he was frowning anymore either. “I guess they don’t.” He said quietly. He didn’t want to look at her and make himself even more vulnerable than he already was. Not because he didn’t want to seem weak but because he thought he might break as soon as he looked at her too-pure-for-this-world face.

As if sensing his thoughts, she stepped closer to him and took one hand in hers and her other hand went to his face. “Juggie, look at me.” When he didn’t, she continued anyways. “Nobody has taken the time to get to know you, that’s their loss and not your fault. The three years we stopped talking was more than hard and I found myself breaking down and wishing you were here, even when I was surrounded by other friends.” She paused to see if she could change his mind about look at her, he did. It looked as though he had cried earlier or was about to but there were no signs of tears and Betty didn’t know if she was relieved or even more worried. “You’ve made me a better person… One day, you’ll help someone else as much as you helped me, until then, it just means that there’s more of you for me. I’m not very good at sharing.” The last part was untrue, she thought she was amazing at sharing but it wouldn’t help her case if she said that.

Jughead laughed sadly. He could feel Betty wrap her hands around his upper chest and rest her cheek on the crook of his neck, he didn’t delay his reaction and hugged her back. When they pulled away in sync, both of them were smiling. You could say that they were going to have another moment, but it was interrupted by Veronica who seemed to have ran to them.

“B! I’ve - been looking - all - over - for you - it’s almost - one - and I - think - we -should start - the barbe-cue” Veronica said in between panting.

“Sure. Let’s go. Jug, do you want to help get the food out? I want it to be as efficient as possible so everyone has something to eat.” Betty said as they walked to the barbecue pit.

“You had me at food.” He smiled goofily at her. Before they gathered everyone, Betty took off her shirt and ran into the water, splashing a couple of people. Her shorts were still on but they only just about covered her butt and Jughead couldn’t help but stare at her legs, wondering how long they really were. Again, he had no idea why she was self conscious about her body, especially considering that hers was what he pictured every girl wanted. Her shorts got wet and she took them off as she walked away from the sea and to the barbecue pits.

Betty had spent a long time finding a swimsuit, Veronica knew how long because she was there with her. Their opinions on what looked good on her were drastically different, Veronica suggested the most revealing bikinis that were only held together by thin straps whilst Betty looked for more closed off ones. They compromised (although it was meant to be Betty’s decision, Veronica didn’t even allow her to try on some of her options e.g one pieces, claiming that she needed ‘show off her hot bod’) on a white halter bikini top that fastened around her neck and high waisted bikini bottoms that almost covered her stomach.

Jughead shut his eyes tightly and tried to stop thinking about her, he then shifted his gaze back at the food instead to get her out of his mind. When Betty ran to him and casually raised her arm to his shoulder, rubbing gently and wiping the sea water on him, it took all of his self will not to close his mouth over hers.

When everyone finished eating, Veronica suggested that they play a game and when all the footballers agreed, every single girl (even the ones that weren’t cheerleaders) insisted on playing spin the bottle. They all sat around in a circle on the sand and Marissa pulled out a huge glass bottle, handing it to everyone for a sip. When it was empty, she set it down in the middle.

“Rules are that you must kiss whoever you get. Absolutely no exceptions. Kiss for ten seconds, no tongue unless it’s necessary, then yes tongue.” Veronica announced fluently. It wasn’t her first time playing and she’d been saying that since she was fourteen, she could recite it without think at all.

Mila clapped her hands together loudly. “Birthday girl first!” she cried. Veronica and Betty, who were sitting opposite across from each other, exchanged glances, Mila probably didn’t know that it was also Betty’s party because Veronica was the one that invited her. Betty nodded at Veronica, having no interest in kissing random classmates although Archie looked pretty excited for someone whose girlfriend was right there. “Okay, I’ll go first then” Veronica stood up and spun the bottle like an expert.

It spun 360 degrees twice before getting caught in the sand and slowly coming to a halt. The bottle pointed in between Betty and Jason. Cheryl warningly glared at Veronica and so she sighed as she walked over to Betty. They met in the middle and kissed, Veronica’s hands on Betty’s cheek and Betty’s hands around Veronica’s waist. It wasn’t weird, nor the first time they kissed each other (Veronica wanted practice before dating) so whilst everyone was cheering, Veronica and Betty were laughing into each other’s mouths. Jughead only found Betty even hotter and he couldn’t explain his feelings for her, he never experienced something like this before.

When they were done with their kiss, Betty wiped the lipstick off her lips from their kiss and walked to the bottle. She casually twisted her wrist and followed the top of the bottle until it stopped. At Jughead. She wasn’t surprised, maybe a little but it seemed like God was sending her some sort of signs and it always involved Jughead. Once, just over two weeks ago, Betty was practicing for her driving test but she needed somebody to supervise and it just so happened that Jughead was passing their neighborhood on his bike when he saw her hesitantly putting her hands on the wheel. Betty didn’t really believe in God so she tried not to think too much into the several coincidences.

Archie eyebrows shot up and he impulsively stood up, ready to scare Jughead away, only he couldn’t because Veronica leaned over two people and pinched his arm, Archie was in fact a little afraid of her. Betty could tell that Jughead was nervous when his lips met hers, maybe it was just that they knew everyone was watching, that Archie was watching. Her lips were pillow soft against his, this time she tasted like honeysuckle and he wondered what their kiss was like to her. Betty didn’t allow herself to actually get into the kiss, she would take it too far then, but she wanted to explore more of him, more of where the hint of beer and mint came from. They didn’t use their tongues but as everyone cheered when the ten seconds was over, Jughead subconsciously licked her upper lip as he pulled away leaving her flustered and fuzzy all over.

Jughead didn’t want to spin and even though the rules said you had to kiss the person you got, it didn’t say that you had to spin on your turn and all the girls were overly eager to kiss a boy from the football team. Archie kissed three different girls in total, Betty didn’t mind when he kissed Laura and Midge but when he got to Mila, she saw that his hand move to squeeze her butt. She wondered if she was just imagining things but Cheryl leaned to whisper into her ear “Did you see that! Are you sure you guys are still dating?”

As it neared four pm, people started to disperse leaving behind only ten in the ocean playing beach volleyball, knee deep in the water. Jughead hugged Betty tightly, seeing that Archie wasn’t there, as he left because of an assessment due on Monday. They watched him leave and then Betty started walking out of the water.

“I need the bathroom. Carry on without me.” Betty said to Veronica. She slipped on her sandals and half walked half jogged to the small public toilets. She was wary of all the germs inside and after washing her hands, she left the stall looking only at her flailing hands and walking the wrong direction.

Just as Betty was about to retrace her steps to her friends she heard Archie’s voice in the distance.“I know, I know. Soon-“ Who was he talking to? Betty couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation so she followed his voice. Her eyes widened and she almost gasped out loud when she saw Archie’s hands on some girl’s face with their bodies leaving no gap. Betty crouched down and peeped her head out from the side of the shower area. When Archie moved his hand she realised that the girl was Mila. Betty bit her lip to stop any sounds from escaping her mouth and tried to listen to their conversation.

“Now, Archiekins.” Mila whined, pulling his lips to hers. Betty arched her eyebrows and wanted to yell when Archie didn’t hesitate.

When they pulled away, Archie shook his head. “It’s her birthday soon, I can’t break up with her yet.”

“You’ve been saying that for four months! I’m tired of waiting around.” Mila stomped her feet. Betty should’ve stopped listening then, but she wanted to hear what Archie had to say. Had he been cheating on her all along?

“Please wait cupcake.” Archie said gently. Betty had heard him call her that countless times before.

Mila pouted her lips before sighing. “One more week. Or else this is it. I’m tired of being your mistress.”

Archie looked frustrated and he stood back. “Damn, this isn’t the sixties, you’re not my mistress.”

“I don’t care. One week or this is over.” Mila ran her hands through her hair. “And I’ll tell Betty what you’ve been doing at Reggie’s party.”

Betty’s jaw literally dropped.

“Are you threatening me?” Archie replied but then he smirked and stepped towards her. “I like it.” He said in her mouth. Betty watched them kiss, trying to process the entire thing she just witnessed. She must have sunk onto her knees because before she knew it, rocks were digging into her knees and cutting through her skin.

“B?- Betty- B - Where are you!” Veronica’s cry was coming closer which snapped Betty out of her own trance. Veronica saw Betty’s ponytail and was about to start yelling at how worried she was before she saw Betty holding a finger to her lips and shushing her.

“What?” Veronica mouthed as she walked towards Betty. Betty tilted her head to them kissing and Veronica’s eyes almost popped out of her head at the sight. “What the fu-“ Veronica yelled only to have Betty slap her hand over her mouth.

Immediately Betty could hear their kiss coming to an end and Archie shifting on his feet. “V-Veronica?” Archie asked, he was unsure if he heard correctly but he knew that he’d be in deep trouble if she did.

Betty stood up quickly, her injured knees finally registering, and pulled Veronica by the wrists. “Come on! We have to go, he can’t know we were listening.” Betty tried to move Veronica from the spot but she didn’t budge.

“No, B! You have to confront him! He needs to feel the shame!” Veronica stood still and fixed her feet on the ground. “Yes. It is Veronica.” She yelled and seconds later Archie was standing in front of them, Mila right behind him.

“B-B-Betty.” Archie stammered. Betty unwrapped her fingers from Veronica’s wrist and turned around to face him. “This isn’t what it looks like. I-“ Archie came to his own defense.

“Save it Archie. We saw.” Veronica wasn’t having it.

Archie swallowed hard. “How long were you there?” He looked at Betty.

“Long enough to put two and two together.” Betty sighed. She thought she was going to cry, maybe a year ago she would’ve but now, in the situation she dreaded having to face since they first started dating, she couldn’t even bring any tears to guilt him. There was a very awkward silence. “You don’t even have anything to say to that? No apology?” Betty asked rhetorically.

Mila crossed her arms behind him and nudged Archie lightly. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.” Veronica’s heart broke for best friend, all along when she said she was going to find incriminating evidence, she never thought there would actually be anything. She wanted to yell for Betty, it was unlikely of her to not talk it out because of how selfless she was, but she stayed quiet because it wasn’t her right to get mad for her.

“Do you mean it? Or are you just saying it for the sake of doing so.” When there was no reply Betty slapped her palm to her forehead and chuckled. “I can’t believe I haven’t noticed. I have questions. How long has this been going on?” Betty said quietly.

After hesitating, Archie replied. “Since the first party, the one that I told you about when we were hanging posters.” That was 7 months ago.

Betty had a flashback to the time when she opened the door of Reggie’s bedroom and saw a couple making out. “So whilst I was throwing up and falling to the ground, you were having sex with her.” Betty pointed at Mila. Archie nodded slowly.

“And every time you said you were going to Reggie’s party, you…” Betty waited for him to finish the sentence.

“He was having sex with me because you bore him.” Mila said.

“You’re not in this conversation.” Veronica rolled her eyes at Mila.

“And neither are you.” Mila replied in the same tone.

“Why didn’t you just break up with me when it started?” Betty wanted to know why he couldn’t just use some common sense.

Archie grunted. “Don’t make me the terrible person here. You were also the one sneaking around. With Jughead.”

If Betty was upset before, she was mad now. “For the last time, nothing happened with him! Because he respected me and I respected our relationship”.

“You don’t expect me to believe that do you? At least I’m honest enough to admit this.” Archie snarled.

“You are ridiculous. Can you just accept that you were the one being a jerk instead of blaming Jughead because he has been the nicest person throughout all your backstabbing.”

Archie rolled his eyes. “This only happened when he came.”

Betty shook her head. “No. This happened when you lost all your dignity. I don’t need you to break up with me, I’ll do it for you.” Betty stepped on his feet, if her knees weren’t bleeding excessively then she would’ve kneed him between his legs. She turned around and tried to wobble away as fast as she could. She could hear Veronica slapping him before catching up with her. Betty waved the last few people goodbye, saying she had an emergency to attend to before attempting to run off to the bus station.

Betty walked straight to the sofa when she arrived and her parents who were in the kitchen, looked at her in surprise.

“Oh we weren’t expecting you until five! Did something happen?” Hal asked, walking over to join her, noticing the bloodied knee.

“Archie was cheating on me. I’ll give you thirty seconds for questions before we never talk about it again.” Betty said. She watched the clock and answered subconsciously, when it got to thirty she stood up. “Now can I please have some time alone.” Betty excused herself and went to her room, shutting the door behind her. Betty drew in her curtains and removed her swimsuit, putting on more comfortable clothes, she didn’t have the energy to shower and didn’t want to make her bed dirty so she sat in front of her mirror. A picture of her and Archie was there, she took it out and looked at it.

Was it wrong that she still didn’t feel like crying? No. It wasn’t wrong. She told herself. He isn’t worth the tears. Her bleeding knees somehow made her feel better, the pain took her mind away from the fact that he cheated and she put her fingers along the cuts. She took the rocks out one by one, every time she touched it, it sent another jolt down her spine, it was kind of dumb to not wash it off but she felt like she was losing her mind, her brain cells, anything that helped her think coherent thoughts, by the seconds. A soft knock came outside the door and Betty stopped herself from yelling at the person behind it.

“Come in.” Betty took a tissue and wiped the blood off her fingers. When the door opened and then closed, she figured it was Alice. “Mom, I said I wanted to be alone.”

Jughead blinked a couple times. “Sorry, I didn’t know. I can leave.” His voice made her snap up and twist her head to look at him. He had his beanie in his hands and already changed from the beach.

Her gaze softened. “No, sorry, I thought you were mom.” Betty tried to get up and only then did Jughead see her bloody knees.

His eyes widened. “Betts what happened! Did Archie push you. I swear if he did-”

“No. No. He didn’t do anything.” It was partly true. Jughead pulled out a towel from her wardrobe and damped it with warm water before helping her back on the chair.

He knelt down on the floor and gently tried to clean the cuts, she sat with her knees next to each other and watched him focus on helping her. “I came as soon as Veronica told me. I’m sorry.”

Betty coughed and he raised his neck to look up at her. “Why are you sorry? It wasn’t you that secretly had sex with another girl for seven months whilst pretending to love their girlfriend.” Jughead realised that she didn’t seem to have cried, and he heard love, it wasn’t appropriate for him to kiss her just after she broke up with somebody who she had been with for three years.

He stood up to leave the towel in the sink and then went to find her first aid kit. “Tell me how you feel.” He said as he put the alcohol on her knees.

She winced but didn’t remove his hands. “I’m less upset than I probably should be for someone who just found out that their boyfriend of three years cheated on them because they found them too boring.” Jughead meant if it stung while he cleaned her wound but he could see how the question could’ve been misunderstood, he was much more interested in this anyways. “I’m mostly embarrassed. That I was so oblivious to this all along. Seven months is a long time, it was dumb of me not to realise sooner.”

Jughead took some cotton buds and wiped the deeper cuts. “Don’t say that. You shouldn’t be embarrassed. He’s the one that should. Be ashamed, I mean.” He took out another box and searched for some bigger bandaids.

Betty sighed. “Am I really so bad, Juggie? He cheated on me because he thought I was boring. Am I not worth this kind of attention. Maybe that’s how everyone sees me, just some boring lump of clay waiting to dry up.” She huffed again.

“Not to me. You aren’t boring. He didn’t deserve somebody like you anyways, he wasn’t worth your affection.” Jughead put the bandages on both her knees and smoothed them out.

“Thank you Jug.” She smiled warmly at him. “Again, you’re picking up my broken pieces. Thanks for cleaning the wound, I didn’t have the energy.” He felt like she needed a hug so he did just that. His hands were wrapped around her waist and he inhaled her hair, smelling a bit of seawater but mainly her rose scented shampoo.

“Anything for you, Betts.” He said against her ponytail.

“And anything to smell my hair apparently.” She found it in her to joke around and he nodded in agreement.

When they pulled away, his stomach rumbled and she giggled a bit. “What about I cook up your favorite? Homemade pesto with penne and bell peppers? You have that in the kitchen right?” Jughead suggested.

“We do. I’d like that.. Maybe you can cook some for mom and dad too, I know how long they’ve been waiting to try more of your cooking.” Betty replied.

“You should get some rest, or shower first. Whichever one, I’ll call you when it’s ready.” He opened the door and walked out, closing it behind him gently.

Jughead stayed over night again, after they binged Love Island with her parents. They talked into the early morning about everything and nothing, they were getting their college acceptance letters soon, there was more pressure on Jughead because he had applied for scholarships as well. They talked about the ‘right’ way of making lemon meringue pie, different ideas for their most recent articles at Sweetwater Com, they talked about their favorite movies. Betty slept happily, she didn’t dread waking up the next morning because she knew Jughead would be there. When she woke at 9 am and turned on her phone, she saw several texts from Archie and knowing that they were probably meaningless apologies, she archived her chat with him and decided to reply to Veronica.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally broke up!! A long time coming, I know. Thanks to all the people who have been really patient and stuck around for the barchie breakup. There is no explanation for why it took so long other than I didn't want to rush it and I wanted it to be natural. 
> 
> The chapters from now on will probably be shorter so that I can update more regularly. I'll try to update twice more before I go back to school. 
> 
> Again sorry for the long wait and thanks for all the views and kudos.  
> (and find me on tumblr if you wish to <3)


	12. xi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than the last because, like I said, I'm probably making the chapters shorter so I update more regularly. 
> 
> If you've noticed that I've changed the total chapters from 17 to ? it's because I don't think I can wrap this fic up in only 5 chapters (obviously summer me underestimated how long I'd take to write Betty and Archie's break up), so there will probably twenty something chapters now I think. 
> 
> This chapter is kind of a filler but also kind of important if that gives any indication to what may be here.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter! thanks for reading and leaving kudos :)

“Rosie contacted me, she wants to see us today for some meeting.” Jughead said as they walked into the Blue and Gold office.

“Really? We just saw her two days ago” And it was not fun, she thought. Her Sundays spent there were either delightful or a complete mess. It was Betty’s birthday the next day and although Jughead couldn’t afford to buy her an ipad, he knew that she didn’t buy him one just to be gifted the same in return. He spent hours looking for the perfect present and had to sneak around as to not be caught by her.

He hesitated before replying. It was no news to her that he was a bad liar and he didn’t think too deep into his excuse. “Yeah… uh… I think it’ll only be short meeting. It isn’t like she loves talking to us anyways.” Jughead rubbed the back of his neck hoping that the lie was convincing enough.

If she noticed, she didn’t say anything, instead replying with a firm nod and “Okay”. Betty knew that he wasn’t telling the complete truth, she replied reluctantly but she was curious to see where the lie took her. He didn’t drive her this morning and she ended up walking to school. The biggest effect her and Archie’s breakup had on her was that he no longer drove her to and back from school and technically it wasn’t even a big issue because she started going on Jughead’s motorbike more often than Archie’s car as they had similar schedules around writing for the Blue and Gold, tutoring and their internship. Jughead tried to teach her to drive the bike but she was not a very fast learner and she decided to leave him as the driver for the foreseeable future.

The moment the bell rung, everyone closed their textbooks completely ignoring the teacher’s reminder of the pop quiz next week. Betty rolled her eyes when people fought to leave the classroom, though she did keep in mind that History wasn’t the most entertaining subject. Veronica also took her time to pack away, fixing her pearl bracelet over and over again until Betty was ready to leave.

“Are you excited for what Jughead has planned?” Veronica asked once there was less noise.

Betty held her pen in the air momentarily before sliding it in her pencil case. “Umm… what? We’re just going to see Rosie about something.”

Veronica gasped quietly. “Oh! Yes… the - uh - meeting… with Rosie. That is what I was talking about.” She closed her mouth into a tight lipped smile. Betty nodded teasingly with a knowing look, Veronica grinned sheepishly, afraid that she ruined the surprise.

“Don’t worry.” Betty said after a while, slinging her bag onto her shoulder. “I won’t tell Jughead that you accidentally spilled some beans.”

Veronica let out a breath of air. “Thank god. You’re a real one. You have no idea what he’d to to me if he found out I slipped up.”

 

If Betty was thinking about telling Jughead that Veronica had mentioned something to her, it never would’ve even crossed her mind because nothing Veronica could say would prepare her for what Jughead had done. He took the longer route, thinking that Betty still believed they were going to the office for a meeting. They ended up in her garage but inside a tent, a tent they used to play inside everyday outside of Jughead’s trailer because it was the only fun thing they could find at his house they day Betty’s parents were hosting a party that children couldn’t attend. It was so big for them then, she remembered, they used to be able to stand without reaching the top and run around in circles on each other’s back. Now, although he made an effort to put a longer stick in and raise the roof, the best they could do was sit down on the huge pile of blankets and pillows that Jughead had prepared.

He looked scared when tears started rolling down her cheeks, asking if he had done something wrong. “You did nothing wrong,” She told him with a tissue he handed her over her eyes, “that’s the problem.”

Jughead racked his brain for something to say, why did girls have to be so confusing he thought. If you forget a birthday, they cry but if you overdo yourself for their birthday, they also cry. There’s no situation where both are happy, he learnt from first hand experience via his mom. “I don’t think I did a lot right... “ He gave her another tissue. “Firstly, I only baked cookies and not cake like you said you wanted.”

Betty managed a trembling smile at him but couldn’t look into his eyes for fear that she’d break down even more. “I didn’t even say I wanted a cake.”

Jughead shook his head. “Um Betts, you said your ideal party was staying at home eating cake you baked. I took away your baking opportunity and I didn’t even do right by it.” He motioned at the cookies, quickly pulling one out of the jar and taking a bite out of it before putting it in Betty’s mouth. “Your mom refused to let me set this tent up in your bedroom so we compromised on this. Your dad’s car is parking somewhere but he only paid for six hours so we need to wrap this up at ten.

She chewed the cookie slowly. “This is all too perfect. I don’t deserve anything like this.”

“Now that’s where you’re wrong, Betty.” he said with the softest gaze and smile she’d only ever see him muster when it was her birthday.

Which only made Betty burst out into tears again. It was like a combination of both their seventh birthdays, his spent in the tent with a DVD player and movies and hers spent on her bed reading and eating cookies they baked together. Her favourites were piled onto the side; Mamma Mia, Moulin Rouge, Sherlock Holmes and Dumbo. And a jar of Jughead’s famous (to her at least) cookies that he never gave the recipe to also lay on the fluffy blanket. They spent a good ten minutes hugging, Jughead wanting to start the movie but Betty’s tight grip around his shoulders stopping him from doing so.

“I thought about hanging up fairy lights,” He had told her when she stopped crying and actually looked around. “But I remembered how cliche you thought they were. And then I thought about hanging polaroids but I don’t have anything like that and Veronica saw me searching for it at the library last month so she offered to print some for me.” The sides of the tent was decorated with string and pictures of them when they were little. On the right was the very first picture they had together. Jughead wrapped in Betty’s scarf and she holding her empty can of cookies in front of the Cooper fireplace. Other photos of them covered in flour, hanging on trees, at the beach house in Australia, wearing matching halloween costumes every year, silly selfies with Chic and so on, were scattered along the string.

Where the tent opened and closed, there was a gap, maybe it was metaphorical or maybe he just cut two separate strings. But after the gap it was photos from when he came back, the first one was a picture of Betty laughing in History class on the very first day of school which Betty could only assume he secretly took underneath the table. The second photo was her laying drunk on her bed, another photo he secretly took of her that she had no idea about.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that.” Jughead laughed.

That earned him a glare. “No you aren’t… Toby.” she muttered.

“Yep. Imagine how confused I was when you called me Toby that entire walk back.”

Betty rolled her eyes and continued down the string. “You could’ve corrected me y’know. I misheard cuz I was too busy falling.”

“No! That would only ruin all the fun.” He retorted. “It was cute.”

Betty looked over her shoulder and they stared at each other for a while. They were both sitting on opposite ends of the tent but if one leaned in a little bit it’d only take a second for the other to meet in the middle and kiss. She had to snap out of it, Jughead probably only thought of her as a friend, she wouldn’t ever do anything to jeopardize their already really strong relationship with a silly kiss. Little did she know that Jughead was waiting for her to do exactly that. He licked his lower lip as a habit for when he started feeling nervous and although it was so so hot to Betty, she knew him well enough to know that it was a sign to break eye contact.

Jughead brushed his hair away from his eyes. “So…” He said awkwardly. “Shall we watch a movie?”

Betty nodded and picked up Mamma Mia. “I’m in the mood for some singing.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be in that kind of mood.” Jughead joked and Betty shoved him away from her. They went back to their usual dynamic like nothing happened a minute ago.

“Help me set this up, Jug. I have absolutely no idea how to work this.” Betty clicked random buttons on the side and raised the screen up and down.

“Amateur.” Jughead muttered under his breath. Ten minutes later with a little help from Youtube, they were snuggled up under one blanket with their bodies pressed together and Jughead’s arm under her neck.

They finished two movies before Jughead got hungry went out of the tent to get dinner. It was a dish he’d been talking about making for her and her parents since the day he dropped her home when she was helplessly drunk. Jughead never got around to it but he figured it was about time he made some stone pot rice for the momentous occasion and cooked it in the early morning. It wasn’t sizzling hot or at its most tasteful stage but he tried his best to make it warm. He also ordered Pops just in case she didn’t like the rice and the takeaway bag sat in the corner of the tent for the entire time.

Jughead started taking the contents out of the Pop’s bag. “I’d hate to see it all go to waste.” He said when Betty raised her eyebrows at him.

“I think you’re on your own, buddy. I’ll be too full for any of that after this.” She waved her bowl of rice around.

He took out a strawberry milkshake and then two vanilla ones. “I figured you wouldn’t be able to decide as per usual so I got you both. And they’re both paid for so don’t think about saying you only need one or else you’ll be fat.”

After a long no blinking contest, which Betty lost, she gracefully accepted both milkshakes. “This reminds me of our Pop’s meal after the first spanish tutoring we did, remember?”

“How could I forget.” Jughead said with a hamburger in his hands. “You were too scared to ride my motorbike and now you get on it every day.”

Betty laughed. “And I almost know how to drive it. I’ve got to admit it isn’t one of my greatest gifts”

“You’ll learn. Speaking of gifts,” Jughead stood, “I need to give you mine before I forget.”

“Jug! This, the tent, the food, being here with you, it’s already the best gift I can think of. I can’t accept another.” Betty murmured.

Jughead shook his head and reached into the Pop’s bag for something else. “Just hold onto that comment, Betts, and wait till you see this.” He took out a paper bag and put it on her lap.

Betty set aside the milkshakes and untied the ribbon from the bag. She looked inside before taking out a smaller velvety brown box. “What is it?” She asked softly, shaking the box a little. “No,” Her eyes widened when she realised. She gasped in disbelief.

Jughead smiled wide. “Yes.”

Betty started shaking her head as she untied yet another ribbon and opened the box. “No, no, no. What!” She slowly took out the silver necklace. It was from the antique store (the only one in Riverdale, as mentioned before) and it had a small rugged emerald gem hanging on it next to a small crown charm that she was convinced Jughead added in himself after buying the necklace.

“Yes.” He repeated.

Betty clasped her hand over her mouth and blinked hard to avoid tears again. This sure was an emotional birthday. “How? I went back myself a couple weeks ago and I thought it’d be there because nobody ever saw its beauty but it was gone and I just accepted that I was too late.”

Jughead looked over at her hands again. “Yeah, I finally paid the last part off.”

“How? You didn’t…” She drifted off.

Jughead rolled his eyes. “No, I didn’t resort to the Serpent ways. I did not steal the necklace.”

Betty nodded and examined the gem. “Sorry if I offended you... how did you pay for it?” She would’ve gotten it for herself but she thought donating to the hospital was a better use for all the money that would go out of her purse for it. And she had no idea what her mom would say. And she figured staring at it every time she entered would make her happy enough. She was wrong, having it in her hands and knowing it belonged to her made her so much happier. And the fact that Jughead got it for her made it ten times better.

“After our first visit in October when you showed it to me, I caught on pretty quickly to how much you liked it. And I knew you put most of your savings either towards a college fund or the hospital. So I talked to Bernie the day after and he told me that you’ve been staring at the gem since he displayed it like it was as bright as your future and nothing else mattered in the store but that, his words not mine. And although the price was over-the-top-ridiculous, it was actually much more achievable if I paid in sections every month so it was $20 for the first couple months and then I realised that if I wanted to get it in time for your birthday, it would need to be a bit more and since I started tutoring, I had the cash. I got it last month. You have no idea how hard it was to keep a straight face when you saw that it wasn’t on the shelf. Bernie also really wanted to tell you but I made him keep it a secret.”

Muffled sounds came from Betty and Jughead realised she was crying again. He pulled her into a hug and let her sob into his jacket. “All the nicest things that have happened to me in my life have been because of you.” She whispered against his collar bone.

“Betts…” He shook his head and played with the ends of her hair, glad that she took off her ponytail in the middle of the movie because it was uncomfortable to lay on it. “You know that goes both ways. Please don’t cry.”

She pulled away and wiped the her eyes. “Thank you- so much - for everything - and this beautiful necklace.” She said in between sniffles.

He stopped himself from commenting on how emotional she was being today and instead offered his hand. “Do you want me to help you put it on?” After barely as second with no reply he thought he said something wrong. “I mean not that you can’t by yourself. God that was such a non feminist thing for me to say. I just see it in ads and movies and… I’ll just shut up now…” Jughead scratched the back of his neck.

“No!” Betty snapped as if only hearing his last comment about shutting up. “I’m sorry I wasn’t listening. This charm looks so familiar.” She allowed crown to spin.

“Oh that.” Jughead nodded. “It was from a toy set you brought over to my house when we were eight and you said we had to make friendship bracelets. The crown reminded me of my beanie and it rolled out of the container whilst we were playing and you left it in my room. I was going to return it but you didn’t ask the next day and I figured you had replicates and didn’t notice, so I kept it.” He smiled sheepishly at her.

“You’re right, I didn’t notice.” She rolled it in between two fingers before giving the bracelet to him. Jughead took it and pushed her hair off her shoulders before connecting both ends by the hook.

He waited until she turned back around to look at him. “This may sound really corny but when I was at Chester and I really really missed you, I’d fish it out of my desk cabinet and carry it around in my wallet. I guess now is as good of a time as any to return it and I haven’t needed it since coming back.”

Even though it was dark in the tent and the lights from the garage barely shined through the material, Betty thought she could see him clearly, his voice brought calmness to her that she hadn’t even realised she always needed and suddenly she knew what she really wanted.

Before she could even stop herself, Betty leaned in and brushed her lips against his. It was selfish of her, she told herself, she hadn’t even broken up with Archie for two weeks and she was already kissing her best friend. Jughead could sense her hesitating and before she could pull away, he closed his mouth over hers. This time it wasn’t a shock to either of them, and it wasn’t forced and nobody else was there to watch them. It was different this time, different to all the other five or so kisses they had before as a cover. Betty couldn’t say what exactly changed about this, they were still them but she couldn’t think properly with all the adrenaline rushing through her.

Now that they were kissing for real, Jughead started to worry. He couldn’t tell if he was kissing her right, how do people even kiss with tongue? He was afraid that he was doing it wrong, he only ever kissed two girls excluding his mom and one girl excluding Betty’s cheek kiss. He thread one hand through her hair and deepened the kiss and Betty whimpered before she could even think to stop it. Hearing that come from her boosted his confidence by miles and as he still felt high on actually being an okay kisser, he bit her lower lip hoping that it wasn’t too hard. She moaned and caressed his face. They both pulled away at the same time to get a breath of air.

They were both speechless for a few moments. How does one go back to being best friends after a kiss like that? The answer is you don’t, and Betty wasn’t sure if she was happy about that or not.

“Um...” Betty hummed under a state of euphoria.

Jughead couldn’t think. How would she want to play it from there? Surely she didn’t want to forget about it and go on like before Jughead started falling down a rabbit hole on how he ruined his one good relationship. Before either of them could say any real words, the opening of the tent unzipped and revealed Alice knelt down on the side.

“Mom!” Betty gasped. “Knock first....”

Alice motioned at the tent, “How?”

“Yeah I realised.” Betty mumbled. “How long have you been there?” Jughead was curious as well.

“I just came in,” She shrugged. Betty didn’t know if she was lying but it made sense as she wasn’t squealing with excitement. “Jughead it’s a quarter to eleven, you should go home now before your father starts to worry.”

Jughead almost snorted. “You’ve met my father, that word usually isn’t associated with him.”

Alice sighed and nodded sadly. “I have, unfortunately. Well I’ll worry if you don’t go home before the lampposts dim. You won’t be able to see anything on your bike.”

“Okay.” Jughead agreed and she walked back so that the two of them could get out of the tent.

He started collecting his things, quickly stuffing pillows and blankets into a big bag. And then the plates. Alice took the Pop’s takeaway bag and bowls “No, no, sweetie. I’ll clean up.”

Jughead reluctantly handed her the trash.

“Hope you guys had fun tonight,” She said to both of them, noticing how they weren’t glued to each other’s side.

Jughead stole a quick glance at Betty who was looking at him with wide eyes. “Yeah we did, Mrs Cooper.”

“You’ll come to dinner here tomorrow? To celebrate. Chic and Polly aren’t coming but Veronica is and if you do, it’s like I have all three kids with me again. You have enough to bring home tonight, you can grab the tent tomorrow.” Alice asked hurriedly as he was making his way to the front.

“Only if Betty doesn’t mind.”

They both turned to look at Betty and she was clutching onto her necklace. “Of course not.” She smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jug. We can… finish our conversation before we go to school.”

Did she mean it as a cover? Were they going to kiss again? Or was he being silly and they were actually talking before her mom appeared? Either way, Jughead left with a wave of his hand and very mixed signals.

After Alice and Betty finally figured out how to fold the tent up, they put it to the side and went over to the kitchen to wash up. “You’re being awfully quiet, Elizabeth? How was your little party?” Alice asked when they started drying the plates.

“I don’t know?” Betty replied after thinking. “I don’t know what happened or how to feel. Is that an answer?”

Alice turned to face her daughter. She had never seen her like this after hanging out with Jughead. “What’s eating you up?”

“We kissed,” Betty blurted and waited to see her mother’s reaction.

“Ohhh!” she squealed.

Betty pursed her lips and nodded.

Alice turned to look at her with a puzzled expression. “Then why do you look so sad?”

“Because it’s Jughead, mom.”

“Did you enjoy it?” She asked after a while.

“Mom!” She muttered but then in a softer voice. “Yeah, I did.”

Alice stared at her quizzically. “And did he?”

Betty shrugged. “I don’t know. I think yes,” She looked hopelessly over. “We didn’t get to talk about it, you came at the wrong time.”

After finally stacking all the plates back into the cupboard, Alice turned to Betty. “Anyone with eyes can see that Jughead is head over heels for you, even since you were little. If your friendship is what’s stopping you from realising that you like him romantically then maybe you stop looking at him as your childhood friend.”

“I just broke up with Archie. It’s unfair to Jug if I move forward on the kiss.”

Alice shook her head. “You weren’t happy with Archie for a very long time. Why don’t you just explore this? Maybe Jughead wants to move forward.”

Betty nodded and hugged her mom. “Maybe.” She whispered.

“Sleep on it. You’re only an adult tomorrow, you shouldn’t have to worry so much. Happy early birthday love.”

“Thanks, mom.” Betty called at the top of the steps.

Hal came through the door at that moment and smiled at Betty. “How was your night?” He asked, taking off his shoes.

“It was good, dad.” She replied thoughtfully. “Goodnight.” She added before taking off to her bathroom.

After her shower Betty lay on her bed with her diary and phone, her hair was wrapped in an old shirt because her mom found on the internet that it was better for hair health. She wrote three pages before setting it aside and taking her hair out of the fabric and letting it fall on her shoulders. Before sleeping she turned on her phone, which Alice said several times that it wasn’t good for her, and read her texts.

Veronica: _Surprise!_ At 5pm

And then three hours later, _So how was it?_

 _It was fun. i’ll tell you more in person tmr_ Betty replied

 

And she made the mistake of opening her other chat, the one with Jughead.

 _Made it home before the lampposts dimmed. Hope you had a good time._ 11:17

 _Is it weird now_ 11:19

And then a voice recording. _“Shit. No. Stupid thumbs. Shit what’s recording? No. Damn it! Stop cursing Jughead”_ Which Betty found herself smiling stupidly at.

 _Can we talk tomorrow?_ Followed shortly after that

And finally, _Goodnight, Betts._ 11:21

 _Yes, we need to talk._ Betty wrote. _I’ll see you outside my door at 7:30_. And just to be normal. _Goodnight Jug_

Betty couldn’t sleep for the first two hours; all she could think about was Jughead and the kiss. She started singing The twelve days of Christmas and repeated it until she fell asleep which was two hours later. On most occasions it worked, she and Jughead used it all the time but tonight, her mind was much more occupied than usual.

She woke up on the first ring of her alarm clock, not as well rested as she would’ve liked but not tired, she counted that as a win. She quickly went into the bathroom, brushing her teeth and showering. She changed out of her pink dog pajamas and put on a white shirt and short denim overalls. Before leaving with her bag that was beside her desk, she saw the emerald necklace. She hastily picked it up and put it on and then left the room. Both Alice and Hal were awake, it wasn’t a surprise to her because they woke up early each birthday for all three of them.

“Happy Birthday, Sweetie!” They cried in unison as Alice put down chocolate chip pancakes onto her plate.

They looked at each other before looking back at Betty. “We have a birthday gift and we want you to see it before going off to school.” Hal said. “So try not to eat slowly, we wouldn’t want Jughead to wait.”

Betty’s mind stirred and her breath got caught in her throat at the mention of Jughead’s name but she managed to smile and say thanks. When Chic turned eighteen, he got this beautiful, expensive watch that Betty was really jealous of. Sometimes she’d sneak into his room and try on the watch and it made her feel more mature, but he quickly went off to NYU and took the watch with him. When Polly turned eighteen, her parents gave her a pair of diamond earrings that she had wanted for at least a year. Betty also tried those on when Polly was out with friends. Veronica did too. They forgot to put it back and Polly started crying when she couldn’t see them, much like Kim Kardashian when she lost her own pair in the ocean. To this day, Betty hasn’t told Polly that the only reason she found it so quickly was because it was in her own room the whole time. Betty didn’t really wonder what her parents would give her, all their gifts were pretty random and she never bothered to guess.

Betty walked over to the sink and washed her plate before looking back at her parents. “Okay, I’m done.”

“Oh thank God!” Alice exclaimed. “We almost thought we’d have to wait until you got back. Jughead will be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, okay. Lets go!” Hal said excitedly. They walked out together, Betty tailing behind them and then she started guessing but nothing came to her mind.

Alice turned to Betty. “Close your eyes.” She demanded quickly.

“Mom, isn’t it too early for little games?”

“Elizabeth, just cover your eyes.” Hal asked. “Please? It would make us really happy.”

So Betty sighed and shut them. She felt her mom’s hand guide her and the garage door opening. They came to a halt somewhere near the entrance of the garage.

“You can open your eyes now.” They instructed at the same time.

Betty really, really disliked surprises. Not that people had much of a choice because she never has anything she really wants and therefore nothing to tell people when they ask. But she never knows what it’s gonna be and she doesn’t know what her face looks like when she doesn’t like a gift. She hopes it isn’t too obvious.

She opens her eyes and then gasps and turns to her parents who are smiling at her and then she looks back at the present to make sure she’s seeing correctly. Because there in front of her is a pale blue mini cooper with a huge red bow on the front of it.

“Surprise!” They squealed.

“Is it all for me?” Betty asked.

Alice laughed. “Of course, silly. Who else’s birthday is today.”

“I’m sure there are tens of thousands of people who were born today.” Betty replied breathlessly. “What on earth do I do with a car?”

“Well, we know you haven’t gotten your license yet but when you do, this bad boy will be waiting for you.” Hal said with Alice nodding in the background.

Betty raised her eyebrows but hugged them nonetheless. When they pulled away she looked at the two of them hopelessly. “Gosh, this is so big! I was just hoping for some watch like Chic’s. Polly was begging for a car but you got her earrings. I didn’t even ask for this.” She tried to make the tone of her voice as soft as possible so that they knew she was grateful.

Alice gave her the keys “That’s the thing! You didn’t ask for anything and we just wanted to give our youngest child something that she could be proud of.”

“I would be proud of a watch…”

“Sorry if this isn’t what you wanted. I got it for some deal and it really can’t be refunded.” Hal said sadly.

“No! No!” Betty quickly responded after seeing the heartbreaking look on her parent’s faces. “I love it, thank you so much.” They immediately smiled again. She could hear the motorbike engine stopping at her house and pulled her parents into a hug again. “I think that’s my queue to leave. I’ll see you later. Love you!”

“Have a nice day, birthday girl. We love you!” Alice called behind her.

Betty picked up her bag from the doormat and then hurried back down to Jughead.

He didn’t even hesitate to hug her. “Happy birthday, Betts.”

She smiled into his shirt.

“What fun eighteenth birthday present did you get?” Jughead asked, remembering Chic’s gift from one of the letters she wrote to him. He was avoiding the real conversation and they both knew it.

“A mini cooper.” Betty muttered as she put her helmet on.

“A what!?” Jughead whispered.

“Yeah, I know.” And then it got slightly weirder because now there wasn’t anything else to say except for what they were both thinking.

“Uhm” Jughead mumbled. “Did you sleep well last night?” He asked, though they both knew what he meant was, _did you spend all night thinking about the kiss?_

“No.” Betty replied after a pause. “I had too many things on my mind.” And then she got on the back.

“Neither did I.” Jughead started the engine again and drove off without saying anything else. All the traffic lights were green when they passed it which meant no opportunity to say anything else on the ride to school. Which resulted in both of them overthinking about what to say to each other when they did get the chance to say something. They arrived a little earlier than usual and they parked behind the school, walking to the front together in silence.

“Look, Betts.” “Jug” they said at the same time, both looking each other in the eye, at the main entrance.

They smiled the same smile. “You go first.” They said together. Betty sighed and pointed at him, but then he shook his head and mimicked himself passing speech to her. She giggled and suddenly everything she planned she would say on the motorbike disappeared and she had to think of something good again.

She remembered her mom’s words from last night. “Well… Jug, I don’t want to pretend that the kiss last night didn’t happen, if you don’t either.”

And Jughead let out a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding. “I don’t.”

Betty exhaled herself and smiled. If she had known it would be this simple she probably would’ve gotten an extra two hours of sleep. “Just to be clear though, when you say you don’t… does that mean you don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen and you want to acknowledge it happened or you don’t want to remember the kiss… or something else?”

Jughead almost rolled his eyes at how cute she was being. He paused for a quick second before leaning in and lightly kissing her on the lips. “The first one.” He said against her skin. She could still smell the toothpaste that lingered on his breath. Like the good students they were, they stopped by the Blue and Gold to organise the fresh newspapers that would be distributed on Friday before going to homeroom together. Mr Moyes gave her a bar of Aero chocolate and made the whole form sing happy birthday to her. When they were released, Betty’s cheeks were as red as cheeks could get.

 

The bell rang for lunch and everyone exited the classrooms like a herd of sheep. Veronica clung onto Betty’s arm as they walked away from their history class.

“I can’t believe Ms Holiday wouldn’t let me talk to you. It’s your birthday!” Veronica ranted on. “Like I was saying, before she got mad at me, I can’t wait to give you your gift, I’ll give it to you after the dinner tonight and you can open it in your room yourself and tell me when you’re ready to have a conversation about the gift.” She clapped gleefully. They entered the cafeteria and started walking to their usual table where Cheryl and a couple other cheerleaders already were.

As they walked past the football team’s table, a couple guys snickered and called Betty names. Veronica didn’t want to ruin the mood so she spared only a second to glare at them. Betty could hear it, of course she could but part of her childhood was tuning rude things people said about Jughead out and not letting it get to her.

“Whore!” Someone yelled for maybe the seventh time since they got within the ten meter radius.

“Excuse me?” Betty snapped. Veronica stopped walking and smiled comfortingly at Betty.

“I said whore.” A random boy that was probably two years below called out.

“He’s right.” Reggie shouted. “Milton saw you and what’s-his-name kissing by the entrance. Boy did you move on fast.” He snickered.

“You do realise that Archie, your best friend, cheated on me. But of course you know, you hosted the parties. Maybe before you call anyone else a whore, you take a look at your own team.” She sneered. And then she turned swiftly on her heel without waiting for a reaction.

Veronica clapped as they got closer to their own table. “You’ve come so far! My precious bean is eighteen! I love you.” She said.

“What a bunch of jerks.” Cheryl spat as they sat down, obviously having listened to what Betty said. “But you handled it so well.” She gave her a small gift bag and put on her biggest smile. “Happy birthday Betty.”

Betty pulled her into a hug. “Thanks, you bombshell.”

“I know how much you don’t like opening gifts in front of other people, princess, so you can open it at home and text me.” Cheryl offered and Betty nodded.

When half the group went to get food, Veronica leaned over the table to Betty’s side. “So you still haven’t told me how last night was.” She asked.

Betty arched an eyebrow at her.

“Hey! I don’t know why I’m so interested but I just wanna know what our non academic-failure Holden Caulfield planned for the Northside princess.”

“Well… it was really nice.” Betty admitted. “Not that I should’ve expected anything different from him. V, he got me the necklace from Bernie’s store, it's beautiful.” She took the necklace out from underneath her shirt to show her.

“No way!” Veronica gasped. “That is _so_ romantic.” She cooed.

Betty stared at her pointedly.

“Oh come on, B. What has Archie gotten you for your past four or so birthdays. Let’s see, a plate, a flashlight, _another plate,_ cherries that aren’t even in season, and this year nothing.” Veronica listed. She was so glad that they finally broke up and not even that shocked to see that Betty wasn’t sad, afterall she knew that Betty didn’t really like him as much as she thought.

“Soooo….” Veronica smiled.

“So?” Betty repeated after her.

“Was Reggie lying or did you and Jughead kiss this morning?”

Betty shook her head at Veronica before sighing. “We did kiss.”

“And……” Veronica said.

“And?”

“You aren’t actually going to make me ask, are you?” Veronica asked.

Betty shrugged. “I don’t even know what you want me to say.”

“Fine, is the kiss a birthday thing or did you guys kiss last night?”

 _How did she figure out so quickly, I didn’t even tell her anything!_ Betty muttered to herself.

“Oh My God! You’re blushing!” Veronica close to screamed. “You guys did kiss last night! Tell me all about it, B”

Betty buried her face in her palms. “Well…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BUGHEAD FINALLY KISSED FOR REAL. 
> 
> I know it's sort of a weird place to end but I've already planned the next chapter and the place I actually want to end will make this chapter too long so this will have to do. 
> 
> (Also I'm 14, maybe it's old where you are but i don't have a lot of classmates that have kissed, and so idk what a kiss feels like sorry if I'm not writing it right? Also this means that I don't actually know how to write smut and so there won't be a lot, i purposely excluded it from the tags) 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!! I'll try to update next week before I go back to school. Again thanks for reading and all the kudos.


	13. xii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty's birthday!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the last chapter was the eve of Betty's birthday to the day after and this chapter starts in the evening of her birthday. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and it's longer than I expected :) also full of cute moments. 
> 
> 4 months since the last update D: Writing is usually at the back of my mind when we have school (this makes me a terrible writer, sorryyy) and I usually start writing again when there's break. I was overseas for most of easter and only managed to write one chapter in the four days left and it wasn't complete so I edited over this first week back at school. 
> 
> Anyways hope you enjoy!

The dinner consisted of dishes Jughead and Alice made together whilst Betty was at an extra cheer practice with Veronica. Jughead had to go to the tutoring centre by himself because Cheryl insisted that the routine wasn’t good enough for the week after and took Betty from him. It was torture trying to control the little kids without Betty’s help, she was usually better at handling them. After telling the group of seven kids that it was in fact Betty’s birthday today, he reminded them how to say Happy birthday in spanish and then recorded a quick video to show her later at dinner. 

The gift bags were all laid out neatly along the window sill and the dishes of steaming hot food were lined up on the dining table. Leave it to Veronica to make herself and Betty late to her dinner party. It wasn’t really a party, Betty had requested she only wanted close family and friends to be there so the table had only nine chairs. Polly and Chic came back to Riverdale as soon as their last class was over, and still they arrived before Betty did. That was good though, they could surprise her. 

Chic was the first to see Veronica’s car pull up onto the driveway and he grabbed Polly to hide themselves in pantry. When Betty entered with Veronica tailing behind her, she was greeted with confetti blowing all over her face with a loud pop. She glared at Jughead who smiled sheepishly and blamed it on her mother’s wishes. “Oh Betty!” her father’s voice came from the kitchen. “You guys are back, come quick before everything gets cold.” He instructs. 

Veronica props her bag down on the rug next to the couch and Betty does the same, neither of them changed after training because of Betty’s rush to get home so they both just put on their other clothes on top. It was uncomfortable, but Veronica didn’t want to complain, following Betty into the dining room. Big metallic copper coloured 1 and 8 balloons were held by helium and touched the ceiling and a clear balloon with coloured paper inside it accompanied them at the ceiling as well. 

Betty looked down and noticed the number of plates. “Why are there two extra plates?” She asked as Alice took a seat. “Please don’t tell me you invited Archie.” She said in a low voice. Her parents had been there when Betty came back home after her party and finding out about Archie and Mila, but they hadn’t asked about their official break up, just assuming that she did. What if her dad hadn’t known and called over at the last minute, it would be unlikely though considering the years before when she had to invite him over. Jughead pulled out a chair for her and sat on the seat to the right. Veronica squealed on the inside at Jughead’s chivalry as she sat on the seat to the left of Betty. 

Suddenly, the door to the pantry opened and Betty redirected her gaze to the door, her eyes widening at the sight of Chic and Polly. “Surprise!” they screamed in unison as they each took steps towards her. Betty bounced off her seat and embraced them in a tight hug, smiling into Polly’s shoulder. Once they sat down across from her she smiled brightly at them. 

“I didn’t know you’d be back today! Didn’t you say you had assignments to hand in?” She asked, knowing it wasn’t easy for them to fly back for every occasion. 

Chic beamed back at her. “Both our last classes were at 2 and we took the quarter past four flight. Lucky you had your training. We came back at 7.” It was already eight and when Hal’s stomach rumbled they started to eat. There were all of Betty’s favourite dishes from over the years, and Alice thanked Jughead for helping otherwise they wouldn’t have had that many dishes. When it was nine, Polly got the cake out from the fridge, it was the cheesecake Jughead and Betty had at Harmony Valley and she hadn’t had them since. 

“Jughead told us you’d like this.” Hal said when Betty covered her mouth with a hand in surprise. 

“Did you go all the way over there just for this?” she asked. 

Hal shook his head and motioned at Veronica. “Your best friend pulled a couple strings and had it delivered here.” 

Betty turned to the left and wrapped two arms around her while whispering a thanks in her hair. They all sang happy birthday after lighting the five candles standing in a circle on the top of the cheesecake. When they stopped, Betty closed her eyes and put her palms together, she wished for the same thing every year “I wish that my family and V will live happily and safely till they’re as old as humanly possible.” But this year, despite already being grateful if that were to happen, she wanted a bit more. So, she added “And if it’s possible, I wish that Jughead will never leave again.” She opened her eyes and blew the candles out, a camera flashed in her face for a photo with just her but then Alice made Polly and Chic stand behind her so that she could take a picture of them. After that, she helped Veronica and Betty take a photo, Veronica with her face squished onto Betty’s and then her kissing Betty’s cheek. And then Alice instructed Jughead to move next to Betty so that they could have a picture together. And finally, Veronica helped take the photo of Betty with her parents. The cake was cut and eaten very slowly because they were all too full from the dinner. 

Once they were finished, they all helped bring the plates into the kitchen and Alice shooed them out so that she could clean in space. 

“I’m not leaving until Betty opens my gift.” Veronica announced as they walked out of the kitchen. 

“Yeah, me too.” Polly said and Betty spared a glance in her direction knowing that Polly was staying the night anyways. 

“Alright,” Betty said. “But I’m opening them in my room, you know how weird I feel about people watching me open gifts.” And they nodded before sitting themselves on the sofa. Betty knew Veronica was comfortable with her family and could talk to anyone so she felt less guilty about leaving her best friend to fend for herself. Jughead helped bring the gifts up and they shared an intimate moment in her bedroom that left the both of them regretting not kissing as Jughead left her alone with all the bags on her bed. 

She opened Chic’s gift first and was shocked as she took it out of the Target bag and revealed a Kate Spade paper bag inside. Stuck on it was a small note that said “Happy Birthday lil sis! Did you really think I’d get you your 18th birthday present at Target? I’m not that mean… maybe next year though. Hope you like this, I think it’s super cute but Polly tells me it’s dumb. You can wear it to your first party with drinks :)” Betty put her arm in the bag and took out the gift, gasping at the ladybug purse in her hand. It’s gorgeous, she said to no one in particular. She opened Polly’s gift next, pulling out a baby blue turtleneck knitted sweater. There was a small note at the bottom of the bottom of the bug, “Welcome to the big world, Elizabeth. I love u infinitely even if you’re leaving me with Chic in NYU”. Polly was one of the first people she told about wanting to go to Harvard or Yale and not take after her siblings, Polly was upset but showed Betty her support knowing that Betty would find it difficult telling her parents. It turned out, in the end, that her parents were thrilled that Betty was aiming for those colleges and all her fear was unnecessary, still all that would be useless if she didn’t get accepted and so her application to NYU was just a back up. 

She settled them down on her bed and took Veronica’s large bag into her arms, peering inside. There was a pack of pastel post it notes and a message written on the very first note of the stack ‘I love you more than the amounts of atoms in all the post it notes here combined. Happy birthday, B <3’. Inside there were also 3 coasters which Betty learnt was agate stone that Veronica had customised with her favourite quotes. On the side, a small piece of paper withholding that information also said ‘For when you finally start drinking coffee like an adult. But they’re also good for milkshakes! I love how Jughead is embracing your two-milkshakes-a-meal indulgence.’. Finally she took out the largest gift inside, and slowly took the tape off of the wrapping paper, wanting to savour it. It revealed an A4 brown book that had a photo of them from when they were three and their parents still dressed them. Veronica was in black romper that matched with her thick raven coloured hair and Betty was in a lacy pink dress with frivolous ribbons. The title read ‘Our first chapter together.’ referring to their childhood, the second chapter, Betty assumed, would be adulthood. There were glossy photos on every page of moments she forgot even happened because they were all so long ago and it led to photos they took at their party just a week ago ago. She started crying at the final page where Veronica wrote a long message. 

-

Veronica knocked after giving Betty 24 minutes to open the gifts. 

“Come in!” 

Veronica sauntered over to Betty’s bed with wide eyes and a cheesy, toothy grin. “So…?” she asks. 

Betty’s response is to open her arms as an invitation for a hug, and Veronica falls onto the bed and in her arms as Betty squeezes her tightly. “I loved it, V. You really didn’t have to do all that for me.” She says into her hair. 

“Don’t be silly, even if I didn’t love you, I’d have to gift this to match the cashmere scarf you got me. And the ‘100 things I love about you’ book” Veronica beams, Betty had made her own book for Veronica as well with 101 reasons why she loved her, accompanied by doodles of them. ‘Did you really like it? Or are you just trying not to hurt my feelings?” 

Betty doesn’t hesitate, “I do really like it, I’m not lying” 

“I love you, B.” Veronica moves away from Betty and crosses her legs. “As Cheryl has oh so generously cancelled friday’s cheer practice, what about you and I have a girl’s night tomorrow? We can binge some corny tv show and get facials and do our nails.” She offers. 

Betty can see how hopeful Veronica is and nods eagerly with a smile. “Yes, of course!” 

“Oh and before I forget,” Veronica starts. “Jughead asked you out on a date.” 

Betty looks at her dazed and confused. “He did?” She laughs. 

“Yes.” 

Betty looks at Veronica to see if she’s just messing with her but Veronica’s expression is serious. “Did I accept?” 

“Yes.” 

“I’m going out on a date with Jughead?” She asks skeptically. 

Veronica nods, “Yes, you are.” 

“Oh man, he asks me out and I missed it. Was it a good ask out?” 

Veronica claps her hands together, “It was a very good ask out.” 

“God, I wish I’d been there.” Betty says half jokingly, and they both fall into a fit of laughter. 

“No, actually, I’m serious.” Veronica tells her as they walk out of her door. Downstairs, the table has been cleared and it seems that Polly and Chic have each gone into their respective rooms. Alice walks out of the kitchen with a towel in her hands, Jughead tailing behind her but looking deep in thought. 

“Oh!” Alice says in surprise, “Veronica, you’re still here! It’s almost ten, sweetie. Do you need a ride back or should I call a cab for you?” She offers, “I wouldn’t want Hiram to chase me down if you don’t get back before curfew.” She jokes. 

“It’s fine, Mrs Cooper, daddy knows how important Betty is to me. He’ll understand.” Veronica pulls Betty into another hug. “But I’ll be on my way, Smithers will be here at any moment now. Thank you for the dinner” She says to Alice before excusing herself. Betty stares out the window to make sure Veronica gets in her car, after a wave goodbye Betty sighs and turns away from the window. 

“Betty, honey, I’ll be working on an article for the Register in my room. Your dad is probably already in the shower. Talk tomorrow?” 

Betty is pulled into yet another hug. “Yep, goodnight, mom.” 

“Jug,” Alice turns towards Jughead, “You’re welcome to stay a little longer but you both should be wary of the time, you still have to go to school tomorrow.” 

Jughead nods “Thanks, Mrs Cooper. Have a good night” 

Alice calls Betty one last ‘happy birthday’ before entering her room and shutting the door behind her. Betty and Jughead walk into the living room together and sit themselves down on the sofa but he’s still silent all the way through. 

“Is something wrong?” Betty asks, cupping his jaw and slowly moving it up so that he’s looking at her. “You look like someone just stepped on your puppy.” 

“No, everything is fine.” He fakes a smile for her and drapes one arm over her shoulder. It’s not fine, he can’t stop thinking about Betty and how he’s going to ask her out after having a short conversation about it with Veronica. It made him realise how little experience he had with girls and didn’t want to mess this up. Not only would Veronica chase after him with a hockey stick into the corner of a dark alley and bash him till his skull cracks if he ever broke Betty’s heart (her words not his) but he couldn’t imagine what would happen if something did happen between him and Betty that he wouldn’t be able to fix and consequently lead to heartbreak on both parties.

“Stay, Jug.” Betty pleads, knowing that she can’t push him to tell her but still wanting his company. “We could watch a movie and have some popcorn.” She suggests. 

Jughead smiles and stands up, “You had me at ‘we’, I’ll go get the popcorn, you can choose the movie.” 

-  
Jughead put down the bowl of popcorn besides him on the sofa as Betty curled up by his side, resting her head on his chest. It felt natural to him, she always did this as children and now it was the same feeling rushing through him that happened ever since they were small. It was a feeling of joy and accomplishment, even if he made nothing of his life, there would always be the time Betty Cooper needed him, and was his best friend. She was twisting the stone of emerald between her two fingers when she looked up at him. Even in the dark, her eyes were still obviously green and so, so big. He couldn’t help but lean down himself to kiss her on the cheek, it helped that she raised her head for him otherwise a strain would’ve been likely. 

“You missed,” Betty whispered against him when Jughead sat back up. 

“Hmm?” He hummed in question.

“You missed.” She repeated. 

Jughead smiled widely as he tugged her up, and his lips met hers quickly. He could feel her smiling into the kiss and her lips parted allowing his tongue to enter. Betty’s hands move up to cup his jaw and amidst the messy kissing, his beanie slips off giving her full access to his wavy hair. Jughead’s right hand moves to her ponytail, removing the hair tie in one swift motion, his left hand finding comfort on her lower back. It’s a small battle over who has the upper, domininating, hand. It gets rough, with each of them tugging on shirts, Jughead wins easily with a bite on Betty’s lower lip. He bites harder than yesterday, remembering her eager response, and this time she moans louder into his own lips which is enough to show her satisfaction and boost his confidence. They take a separate breath of air together, not wanting to part, their lips are barely a centimeter away from each other. They quickly get back into the kiss, and in the heat of the moment, Jughead moves to trail kisses up her neck. 

He’s not sure if he should stop, but his heart works before his brain and he starts to suck the skin behind her ear. He can feel Betty still for a split second and can hear her breath hitch and he quickly removes his mouth to look at her. “Is this okay?” He asks, not wanting to cross any boundaries, afraid that he made a mistake.

“Yes,” She replies breathlessly, “Do it again, Juggie.” she requests against his lips. He doesn’t need to be asked twice, his mouth quickly finding contact with her skin again, kissing, sucking, and an experimentory lick which he decides is too weird after the first time but Betty seemed to like. She moans every time he latches onto a bit of skin, knowing that it’ll bruise because of him. She knows it isn’t sex but when he moves to her other ear, breathing against it and gently biting her ear lobe, she thinks she can see stars. “Oh, Jug.” she whimpers and she can feel a smug smile playing on his lips. 

Jughead doesn’t want to stop, he wishes they could stay there forever, and hopes that in the future he can explore every part of her body, marking the areas that other people will never get to see. With one last kiss on her lips, she slides back down to lay against his chest and he wonders if he’d ever be so lucky to get that opportunity, maybe if she were his girlfriend. 

He’s playing with her hair when she randomly blurts “Are you going to ask me out, Jug?”, Jughead is taken aback by the question and his focus is no longer on Casablanca playing in front of them, or the five pieces of popcorn he has left. 

“Jug.” Betty says, sitting straight, her voice clearly laced with worry that he didn’t even want this in the first place. Maybe that was why he was acting distant earlier, she thinks to herself, maybe Veronica had said something about her wanting him to take her out. She shifts slightly away from him when there is still no reply, glad for the dark room which meant he couldn’t see the hurt expression on her face. 

He senses her tense up and immediately takes her hands in his, intertwining their fingers. “Of course I want to ask you out-” 

“But…” Betty says, afraid of rejection knowing now more than ever, how much she wants him to say that she’s his girlfriend. “Is it me?” She asks, her voice cracking. “I understand if you think it’s unfair on you that I just broke up.” 

“Baby,” The words come out of Jughead’s mouth before he can think to stop it, it almost feels natural to Betty hearing the pet name come from him. “No,” he assures with a gentle look on his face, “What are you talking about? I just- it’s just that- ” he says with a frustrated sigh, “It seems that we’re doing everything backwards, you know? Like we kissed for show even though you had a boyfriend. And then we kissed before I even took you out on a proper date that wasn’t forced upon us by Veronica and whatnot. And I assume you’re my girlfriend but again, I haven’t taken you out. You deserve better than that. I wanted to wait for the right time, and I’d have something extravagant but private planned for us, and we’d go out together, because you said yes, and it would have to be close to perfect because that is what you deserve. Not us sitting on your couch with a popcorn stench all over my hands.” 

“Really, Jug?” Betty asks, gripping tighter onto his hands. She says it like it’s not what she had expected from him at all and he feels a tinge of regret for not asking her sooner and making her doubt his feelings for her. “I’m your girlfriend?” 

He nods. 

“And…” she says, moving closer into him, “You’re my boyfriend?” 

His hands release hers and he moves his hand on her waist to help her onto his lap. “I’d hope so,” he says with her long legs straddling him.

Betty shakes her head as she bites onto her lower lip, “I don’t want any of that extravagant date, I don’t need it to know that I just want you.” Her voice is low and so, so, undeniably sexy to Jughead. He thinks he’ll lose it when she grinds against him, knowing how hard he already is. 

They look into each other’s eyes for a couple seconds more before lust takes over them and they pull each other into a never ending kiss. Everytime he kisses her, he feels like an extra year is added onto his life and he can’t help but thank whoever made their stars align so that he could meet her. Betty pulls away first to remove the pink sweater she has on and Jughead was hopeful for a second until he realises that her cheerleading uniform is underneath. 

“Is it just - me or is - it really hot - in here” She says in between languid kisses. One of Jughead’s hands remain in her hair while the other slips underneath her kit, his long fingers skimming lightly over her stomach before settling at her waist. They kiss for a while longer before Betty starts to get squirmish under his touch. “Do you want to take it off?” She asks, though it sounds like a dare. 

Jughead removes his hand from under her shirt and plays with the thread at the bottom. “Can I?” He wonders, and she nods her permission. It’s dark but the moment the shirt is off and left at the side of the couch, she feels self conscious under his gaze. 

She feels silly for asking but can’t help it anyways, “Can I keep the bra on... please?” she says hesitantly. 

Jughead stills his hands over her waist and traces small circles on her skin. He smiles softly at her, “Of course, Betts.” He realises that he hasn’t really seen her fully naked since they were eight, and her body has obviously changed since then. The only post adolescence time he’s seen her naked was when she fell in the bathroom and he had to help her put on her bra but he still hadn’t seen her bare chest. Or any female’s for that matter, he hated the thought of watching porn and hated it even more when he could see it from someone’s screen in class. “If you don’t like this just put the uniform back on, baby, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.” 

She smiles sweetly at him, like he’s hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day, like she could just eat him up. Wordlessly, Betty starts pushing Jughead’s jacket off and tugging on the hem of his grey shirt impatiently trying to get it off his body. 

“Woah there, Cooper.” He says as he lifts his arm to help her take it off. She quickly throws it onto the sofa and gives herself some time to admire his defined torso and the subtle V line going down into his jeans. “So eager to take my shirt off.” He adds cockily. 

Betty playfully hits his chest before leaning into his lips and then everywhere else on his bare chest. Her fingers lightly trace the hard lines and she wonders how he has such a beautiful body considering the lack of exercise and amount he eats. When he starts sucking on her collarbone, she drapes her arms behind his neck and threads her fingers through his hair, gently pulling it back for fun. She hopes they’re being quiet, and hopes that everyone is used to sleeping before 2 am so that nobody will walk into this. Jughead kisses every part of skin he can see, even the dip in between her bra. He admires all parts of her that she’s letting him see and it’s a new feeling for her, one that makes her a little scared but even more head over heels for him. They jump when one of their phones start buzzing and establish quickly that it’s FP calling Jughead’s phone. 

Jughead sighs and pulls away from her, and she pouts when he tries to get her to stop touching his abdomen. “Hello?” He greets, his fingers have found home once again on her waist and he gently squeezes when his dad responds with a loud voice. After four minutes of negotiation, he puts down his phone and Betty buries her head into the crook of his neck. “Thanks for letting me stay the night.” Jughead whispers. 

“Well, I did keep you in here until two. I’m not so heartless to make you ride a motorbike back at this hour.” she replies, her breath tickling him slightly.

“Really. Is that the only reason?” He teases as he wraps his arms around her bare stomach. 

Betty moves away and steps onto the carpeted floor, pulling on her uniform over her head. “Considering the time, yes. I’m going to take a quick shower, I suggest you put back on your clothes in the meantime ” She says. It’s Jughead’s turn to pout but she’s already gone up the stairs. Jughead falls asleep on the couch waiting for Betty, but he wakes up to her wet hair brushing against his face as she whispers his name. 

He smiles at her and plants a kiss at the corner of her lips. “Here,” she says, holding a pair of white boxers, “they’re disposable.”, and when Jughead arches an eyebrow at her, she shrugs “Chic brought a pack home and he’s only staying for one night.” 

They turn off the TV and Betty goes to wash the empty bowl of popcorn as Jughead walks into her bathroom. He turns on the tap and stands under the cold water to rid himself of his arousal, certain that when he sees her after the shower it’ll all be useless. He decides it’s inappropriate to masturbate in her bathtub, so he tries to think of unsexy things as the cold water runs down his back. No harm in trying, he mutters under his breath. He first thinks of one of the kids in his spanish tutoring that picks his nose and then licks his fingers. But then his thoughts travel to Betty leaning over the table, her shirt riding up revealing some skin, as she gives him a tissue. He thinks of Rosie wanting to go on a date with him the first day he was at Sweet-river Communications but his mind wanders to Betty and one of their many fake kisses. He decides that he’s not helping his case at all and quickly washes the shampoo and soap off. 

He wanders out in nothing but the boxers she gave him, knowing very well that it isn’t hiding his erection. If matters could get any worse, Betty was fixing the sheets on her bed in the tiniest pajama shorts that barely covers her ass and he can’t help but goggle at her long legs. “No mattress tonight?” He wonders out loud, considering all the nights he spent on a mattress besides her bed when they were kids. 

Betty turns to face him, her hair is tied up in a messy bun, probably to prevent her shirt from getting wet, but still a couple strands fall over her face. Jughead walks over to brush them away and she settles her hand on his torso. She looks into his eyes, “I hope you don’t mind,” a playful smile forming, “I figured we could sleep together tonight, you know… like we’re dating.” 

Jughead pulls her in closer and her arms circle his waist. “I, sure as hell, don’t mind this new arrangement. And we’re definitely dating,” He smirks. “The birthday princess must get her wish.” he says as he lifts her up, one of his hands finding her butt. Betty’s legs wrap around his waist almost immediately and she can feel the hardness of him against her bottom, she smiles to herself knowing it’s because of her. Their lips meet and tongues tangle as he slowly moves closer to her bed, settling her down gently underneath him. Her legs are still wrapped around him when he starts to move his lips to her collarbone, kissing softly and then sucking on it like she’s his favourite food. She moans and arches her back to him and her fingers thread through his wet hair. 

When Jughead can’t hold himself up anymore he slides to the side of her but pulls her even closer to him. She’s pressing against his bulging erection and acknowledges to herself that the ache in between her legs are real, but decides that it wouldn’t be fair on Jughead even if she’s completely over her last relationship. Jughead moves his hands to cup her jaw “You have no idea how happy I am knowing that I get to take you out on a date-” 

Betty flushes red. “Jug…” 

“And that I can call you my girlfriend,” he admits, having dreamt about a time like this since he was little. “And other things.” He adds. 

“Like what?” 

“Like…” He says softly into her ear, “Baby girl.”, it comes out as a whisper and he moves back to look at her face. 

Betty decides instantly that not only is she turned on by the way it comes out of his mouth but also that she loves the way he looks at her when he says it, like she hung up the moon and all the stars. Her cheeks redden even more under his intense gaze. 

“Do you like that?” He asks before kissing her lightly. 

Betty pretends to think for a moment before nodding with a twinkle in her eyes. 

“Alright.” Jughead says, unable to think coherent thoughts under the overwhelming emotions he’s feeling. 

It’s silent for a while, the only sound coming from the breath of air they take and release simultaneously. Betty yawns and Jughead removes himself from her side and pulls the covers over her. 

“Should I switch off the lights?” He asks, and she nods when he stops at the lightswitch by the door. 

He settles himself back into her bed, with all the lights off, and they look at each other in the dark. Betty slides up to his side and positions herself under his arm with her head resting on his bare chest. “Jug?” She whispers after a couple minutes pass. A random sound comes out of his mouth which she assumes means to go on, “I don’t think you can be any happier than I am knowing that I get to go out on a date with the best person on the planet.” 

She can feel his heart beating faster and likes that she has that kind of effect on him. 

He shuffles himself so that they’re eye to eye. “Really?” 

It sounds so pure to Betty, like the thought of him meaning so much to her was new to him. “Yeah, guess I just got really lucky.” 

Jughead shakes his head and twirls her hair in his fingers. “I’m the lucky one, who would’ve ever imagined that I would be with the most intelligent and kind… and beautiful girl,” he says the last part with a kiss knowing how little she was reminded of it. 

“You’re just saying that because we’re together,” she says knowing all too well how the first few months of dating felt like. 

There’s a moment of silence where she can feel his adam’s apple bob up and down. “I wish that were true,” he admits, “but these words are long overdue.” thinking of their time spent together since they were five, where he would silently admire her.

Her heart warms and stomach flutters when he says that, “Do you really mean that?” she asks doubtfully, he knows she’s talking about him saying she’s beautiful. 

“I’d tell you every second of everyday if that’s what it takes for you to believe me.” 

“Even when I don’t have makeup on or I’m wearing washed out pajamas?” 

Jughead pulls her closer to his chest and rests his forehead on hers, “Especially then.”

A huge smile forms on her face and even though it’s a couple hours into the morning, she still considers it to be her favourite birthday she’s had. “You’re so sappy, Jug.” 

“Only for you.” He says and kisses her temple “Go to sleep, we don’t want to be late to school.” He reminds her, “Happy birthday again, Betts.” 

Betty closes her eyes and inhales deeply, smiling to herself because Jughead smelled exactly like her. “Goodnight, Juggie.” 

 

Jughead wakes up first and almost throws the arm over his chest out before realising that it was Betty. Her alarm hadn’t gone off yet but he knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, slowly shuffling away from Betty and tucking her in tightly before going into the bathroom and taking a quick shower, finding a spare travel toothbrush in one of the cabinets. He puts back on his clothes from the day before before running his fingers through his hair and then placing the beanie over it. Jughead opens the door gently and then looks at the clock, he stands by the side knowing that it’ll start ringing in two minutes. At exactly 6:17 the clock starts ringing and he stops it within a second, climbing over her body and holding himself up by his two arms. 

He lowers himself slowly, like he’s doing a push up except without going back up, and places a kiss on her cheek. “Wake up, Betts.” he whispers into her ear, gently nudging it with his nose. 

She moans, probably in attempt to shoo him away but he stays there, his breath blowing against her ear. “Jug,” She mumbles, her voice hoarse. “Let me sleep for a little longer.” 

His chuckles sends vibrations down her spine, “No,” He pulls the covers off of her, exposing her body to her room. 

Betty fails to grab the covers and her eyelids lift slightly, “Juggie,” she moans, a fraction of her green eyes visible to him once he switches on the bedside lamp. Her eyes immediately snap shut at the brightness. “It’s cold.” 

“Baby, it’s March, it’s like seventy seven degrees here.” Jughead says, but he still wraps his arms around her to keep her warm. He hears her sigh contently and shuffle herself to a more comfortable position and he rolls his eyes before shaking her, “Don’t go back to sleep,” 

She attempts to swat his arm away. “Give me three minutes, I was stuck watching some boring kiss in a movie last night instead of actually kissing.” 

“I’ll have you know that it’s called ‘Casablanca - Most perfect kiss’ on youtube.” Nevertheless Jughead smiles and brings his lips to meet hers. She seems to be suddenly awake and kisses back eagerly. “Nope,” He pulls away before her tongue slides in. “Maybe later, if you’re good. Don’t you want to say goodbye to Chic and Polly before they fly in…” he glances at the clock “4 minutes.” 

This makes her sit up and she runs into the bathroom to splash water on her face before racing down the stairs to say goodbye to them. Chic opens his arms for a hug and the three of them wrap their arms around each other. 

Polly releases them first after Betty thanks them for the gifts, “We really should be going now,” She picks up her duffel bag off the floor. 

Jughead finds himself walking up to Polly and giving her a quick hug before Chic basically pushes his sisters out of the way to embrace Jughead in a bro hug kind of way. They whisper somewhat aggressively and happily at the same time before laughing and patting each other on the back. Hal and Alice bid them goodbye each with a kiss on their cheeks and “safe flight”’s. 

Chic turns one last time to Jughead as the door is closing. “Good luck.” Is all he says which Jughead nods at, leaving Betty confused. When she questions him about it, all Jughead does is shrug and walks to the kitchen to find something to eat. Betty finds herself wondering what they were talking about as she takes a quick shower and brushes her teeth. 

They walk out of attendance together as soon as the bell rings and his arm rests on the small of her back as they walk to history. Jughead doesn’t want to sit away from her but gracefully moves to his own seat as she walks to the tables behind him. Apparently, the seat you sit on in the very first lesson is your seat for the rest of the year which is unfortunate for Jughead because it required him to turn 180 degrees if he wanted to look at Betty which was often. 

Veronica enters and Betty can see her eyeing the both of them suspiciously. 

Betty smiles cheerily at her best friend. “Good morning, V” 

Veronica’s tired expression is replaced with a smirk and Betty sighs, “What now?” 

“Jughead is wearing the same outfit he was yesterday.” Veronica says as she wiggles her eyebrows. 

Betty rolls her eyes, “You know Jughead, he only owns like 3 shirts.” 

Veronica’s lips pucker, “But it’s extra crinkled today.” 

“He doesn’t have an iron at home.” She replies simply. 

“No,” Veronica agrees, “But you do.” 

“But he didn’t stay the night.” Betty says and can see Veronica light up knowing she slipped up. 

“AHA! I didn’t say anything about staying the night.” 

Betty rests her head on her arm. “Just pretend I never said that.” She says wishing Ms Holiday would just walk in. Like clockwork, the door swings open and they’re greeted by said teacher. 

As Ms Holiday tries to connect the projector to her laptop with a little help from one of the students, Veronica slides closer to Betty. “I could pretend you never said that but the hickeys on your neck aren’t deceiving anyone.” 

Shit, Betty thinks to herself, her hands flying up to cover her neck. She hadn’t paid attention to them this morning, opting to spend more time eating breakfast than looking at herself in the mirror. Even if she had seen them she doubted she’d be able to cover them very well; having limited amounts of makeup and experience in doing so would make it difficult. 

“Is it obvious?” Betty asks in a low voice, the classroom was filled with hushed voices as if they thought Ms Holiday had bad hearing. 

Veronica slides her pocket mirror from inside of her pencil case to Betty. “You can be the judge of that, my sweet B.” 

Betty gasps at her reflection as she moves the mirror left and right, there are three hickeys on the visible part of her collarbone which isn’t covered by her sweater but she knows there are more beneath the cotton. The one below her jaw is more obvious, the colour an intense shade of purple. The ones scattered along her neck aren’t as visible but anyone would be able to see them if they looked closely. 

Veronica watches her friend gape at the mirror before adding “Don’t think I can’t see the one behind your ears either. You probably don’t want to tie your hair up today.” 

Betty flushes red and puts the mirror back in Veronica’s pencil case. “What do I do, V? I haven’t put my hair down since sophomore year, that’s not an option.” 

Wordlessly, Veronica takes a navy blue scarf out of her bag and hangs it over Betty’s shoulders. As Ms Holiday starts to talk about the homework they need to hand in, Betty wraps the scarf around her neck. 

The entire senior year have a free period after and Betty waits until she and Jughead are behind the closed doors of the Blue and Gold office to show him. She unwraps the scarf and gives him a deadly look, before motioning to her neck. 

“Juggie, look what you did!” she says as he turns his head to her. 

A smug smile quickly plays on his lips as he walks towards her. “Yeah, I did that.” He says proudly, his gaze fixated on the bruises, brushing the tips of his fingers along the marks. She squirms under his touch and he caresses her cheeks, holding her in place. “Something about my marks on your skin really turns me on,” He says against her lips. 

Betty leans forwards to close the small gap between them. His mouth was warm and soft and she whimpered into the kiss sliding her hand up into his hair. Jughead moves his mouth over hers, not letting it stay in one place for too long, his tongue flicks against her lips, silently requesting for an entrance into her mouth. It’s a quick but rational decision that she makes, that she’ll never tire of Jughead kissing her and hopes he feels the same way about her. She tries not to be too loud when his tongue slides in but the moan escaping her lips comes before she can control it and Jughead pulls away abruptly with an expression she can’t even describe. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asks, her voice cracking after he had just taken her breath away. His hand on her waist keeps her oh so close to him and at that moment all she can think about is kissing him again. 

“Can I ask you something?” He says, ignoring her question. All she can do is nod. “Am I okay at kissing?”

Betty doesn’t try to hide her surprise and she giggles until she realises he’s serious. “Juggie, you’re better than okay.” She admits, biting her lower lip. She pulls him to the couch and sits on his lap with her head buried in the crook of his neck. 

“That sound that came out of you earlier is music to my ears, I never thought I’d hear it from you...because of me... Honestly, I don’t really know what I’m doing.” 

“You’ve never kissed anyone before?” She asks into his neck. 

“No,” he confesses. “Who do you imagine I’d be kissing.” He says with a small chuckle. 

Betty lifts her head to look at him, “I don’t know, but I’m glad I’m the one you’re kissing now.”

The smile on his face is priceless, as if he was afraid that she’d break up with him because she wasn’t satisfied with his kisses. His vulnerable expression and soft smile makes her blurt, “You’re so cute when you ask me things like that.” 

“You’re way out of my league,” He begins, “I can’t help but ask.” 

One of her legs move to the other side of him to straddle his waist and both of them move at the same time towards each other. Her lips part before he even has to push, wanting their tongues to meet asap, sending his heart to overdrive. They kiss slowly, sort of lazily, and Betty moves her hands under Jughead’s shirt, circling his waist. He removes his own hands from her neck and hair to pull her arms out. “Why are your hands so cold,” he asks into her mouth, his hands covering hers to keep it warm. 

“Ms Holiday isn’t environmentally friendly,” she replies, talking about the aircon in her classroom. 

He stifles a laugh, wrapping his arms around her whole body instead to keep her warm. Their lips find each other’s quickly and Jughead decides to move on to her neck, kissing the bruises lightly and not marking her even more. They’re breaths are loud in each others ears that they barely register the door opening nor the boy standing in front of it. 

“Betty-” a voice coughs. Jughead is the first to pull away and almost scoffs when he sees Archie, of course they’d be interrupted by him. Betty turns her neck to the door, still straddling Jughead’s waist but her eyes widen and she removes her legs to stand up at the sight of the red headed boy.

“Archie,” she challenges. “What are you doing here?” Her voice comes out colder than he had expected and Betty can see him flinch but she doesn’t care enough. Jughead watches as Archie’s eyes travel up her neck, his eyes on the bruise below her jaw. Jughead feels a spark of happiness knowing that Archie is seeing the hickeys he left on her but at the same time he feels anger towards him for once being able to do that to her but not appreciating her. Jughead picks up the scarf that Betty dropped onto the table earlier and hangs it over her neck, allowing her to cover her neck up herself. 

“I thought I’d find you here.” Archie says matter of factly. 

Betty tries not to roll her eyes or ignore him and go back into Jughead’s arms. “What are you doing here?” she repeats. 

Archie mumbles something under his breath before fishing something out of his pockets. “To give you your gift, I haven’t forgotten that your birthday is today.” He says. 

“My birthday was yesterday,” She sneers back, Jughead leans against the table and doesn’t bother hiding his smirk. 

“Betty,” He says as he walks to her with the wrinkled brown gift bag in his hands. Betty moves away as he nears and he grabs her arm quickly. Jughead resists the urge to leave from the side and do something, anything, to make Archie back off but he sees Betty’s reassuring glance at him and so he nods at her. 

She tugs her arm back and shakes her head at him. “Don’t touch me.” 

“Just open my present.” Archie says but not before rolling his eyes. 

Sighing, Betty takes the bag from his hands and looks inside, she wasn’t shocked at all which said a lot about their relationship. Inside was a Faber-Castell art eraser and a box of 8B lead refills, she looked over at Jughead with an aspirated expression and received a small thumbs up from him. 

“Well?” Archie prompted, “Do you like it? I remember you said you wanted this.” 

“Yeah, four years ago when I still took art.” Betty says, “Thanks anyways.” She mutters trying to be polite like her parents had always taught her to be. 

“Can we talk yet?” Archie says after a few awkward seconds pass. “You haven’t been reading my texts but I told you I stopped speaking to Mila.” 

“No, Archie; I don’t want to talk to you.” 

“I stopped speaking to Mila the day after. And I’ve been trying to apologise for the past week” Archie insists. 

Betty shakes her head. “Is that supposed to make the seven months before that okay? Because you stopped talking to her after I caught you?” 

“No,” Archie mumbles, “But it should count for something.” 

“You’re right, it should. But it doesn’t to me.” 

“Don’t you want to go back to like it was before?” Archie asks, taking another step forward. Jughead settles himself down by the desk and watches this go down, happy that Betty is finally standing up against him. “Don’t you love me?” He says louder.

Betty scoffs stepping further away from him. “I never loved you Archie,” she shakes her head, “Or I haven’t for at least a year. I was too young when we first started dating to know what love was. Maybe I still don’t know now but what I do know is that I’m not going to find it with you. I certainly don’t want it to go back to what we were before. I wasn’t happy for a very long time, you didn’t want to date me, you wanted to date the person you made me out to be. I hated going to parties with you and having to watch what you drink so that you didn’t get drugged. I like helping people but I’m sick and tired of having to lend you my notes before a test, and then have you tell me the next day that you spilled your drink all over it. It’s exhausting babysitting a grown child, especially when I could never do the things I liked. You made me sacrifice visits to the hospital just so that you had someone to talk to when you were too hungover to go out with Reggie. You always made me wear Polly’s hand me down dresses, do you know how that makes me feel? No, you don’t. I’m happy that you’re apologising but I don’t know if you mean it and it’s too late now.” 

She glances over at Jughead when she’s done saying everything on her mind, his smile is so precious and full of pride for her. 

Archie swallows but doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Can I have the gift back? I took it from Mila’s room.” He says hesitantly. 

“Wow, Archie.” Jughead all but yells as he finally moves to Betty’s side. “I didn’t think you could be that much of a jerk.” he spits. He leans into Betty’s ear and asks for permission to kick him in the balls. 

“No,” Betty tells him, “I want to do it.” she says as she raises her leg quickly and kneeing the gap in between Archie’s leg as hard as she can. “Here.” She throws the brown bag back at him, “May you and your mistress and her eraser live happily ever after. Go away now, I don’t ever want to see you again.” She says to him as he lays on the floor with one hand over his crotch. 

When Archie doesn’t move off the floor Jughead moves to open the door. “You heard her! Get out!” He barks. 

Archie manages to stumble out of the door, “Fuck both of you, you’re insane.” he mumbles as he leaves down the corridor. 

Jughead waves at him before closing the door and smiling softly at Betty, “That was so good, Betts.” He embraces her in his arm before leaning down to her, “Where were we?” he says huskily. They get back to kissing, it’s quick at first as they try to gain back the time they were robbed off but they slowly move to more gentle and tender kisses. 

“Wait.” Betty says against his mouth before pulling her head away. “I don’t want you to think that this is like a rebound or something, Juggie. I really, actually, want to be with you.” 

“That never even crossed my mind, Betts.” He replies earnestly. “You wouldn’t do that.” 

Betty nods lightly before cupping his jaw in her right hand. “Thank you, Juggie.” It comes out almost as a whisper. “For everything.”

Jughead presses a kiss on both sides of her cheeks before taking her hand in his and bringing her to the table, pulling the chair out for her. “We should probably finish the english assignment.” He tells her before letting her hand go. They take out their laptops and Jughead starts typing away but Betty can’t put any words down over the sound of his fingers clicking the keys, wishing his hands were on her. And she can’t focus with his knee touching hers. He spares a couple seconds every now and then to look at her eyes, her green but also hazel coloured eyes that Jughead had decided when they first met that was his favourite colour. Sometimes she’d catch him staring but he never looked away as if he were ashamed, he let his eyes travel down to her lips. After intense stares followed by them trying to pull away and redirect their focus, Jughead can’t concentrate knowing that Betty is right next to him. 

“Maybe,” He begins, “Maybe the assignment can wait?” He sighs hopefully. 

She tilts her head to the side before cocking a grin, “You think?” She says not wasting a second more and leaning over her chair. He takes her hand and pulls her closer to him on his lap, they watch each other for a while in silence until Betty pushes the curl hanging over his eyes away and brings her lips to his. 

The assignment is the last thing on her mind right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my babies have grown so much :) finally Betty and Jughead are together!!
> 
> Like I said, writing isn't my top priority with school and it's more of a hobby. I can't promise when the next update will be but maybe in two or three weeks from now. 
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated and i'd love to talk on tumblr if any of you want to. @peppermintyc
> 
> Thank you all for reading <3 it makes me really happy.


	14. xiii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lots of dialogue and sappy moments :) talk about university and... do they go on a date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm beginning to notice a recurring theme of me having 90% of the chapter done two weeks before actually posting. The 10% is when I'm out of ideas. Also said I'd post in two weeks and it's been a month so... 
> 
> anyways, i think this is THE longest chapter I've written. It's kind of dragged on a bit but there are still some important conversations amongst the unnecessary paragraphs -apologies for when it starts to get boring.

Four days after Betty’s birthday, college acceptance letters started filing into inboxes and mailboxes. The entire senior year buzzed around the hallways on Monday, some smiling as they walked with their friends, and others sulking by their lockers. Betty hadn’t received any mail on the Sunday and no email either, leaving her a little more anxious as the hours went on. She knew that different colleges sent their replies out at different times but the anticipation was just too much, every time her phone buzzed in her pocket, she’d immediately take out her phone to check if it was an email from one of the colleges. Betty met up with Veronica before going over to the office, she had a group of students and parents to tour around in the first two periods and after that she’d have a meeting with the new head students to discuss a quick passover. Veronica had gotten an email from Berkeley College, she was not accepted and immediately called Betty for support. Betty didn’t know what to tell her, she could hear how disappointed Veronica was through the phone and all she could say was to stay positive and wait for the other letters.

 

Betty applied early for two colleges but she was rejected, she wasn’t that upset as they were what her parents wanted her to try for experience. The deadline for many of the schools she applied to were in January so she spent all her time from October to the middle of January writing essays after essays whilst finding more jobs in journalism to write as experience in her application. It was exhausting, and many days ended up with her drained on her bed lazily video calling Jughead who didn’t apply to half as much as she did. Betty decided that it would be a long shot but still worth it and so she applied to all the Ivy league schools even though she really only wanted to go to Harvard (and Yale even more now, knowing Jughead had applied for a scholarship to it as well as Harvard). She also applied to 8 safety non ivy schools as a backup and she was hoping that would mean she’d get accepted into at least one college. 

 

Jughead had applied to only the affordable universities and also applied for a scholarship in two Ivy league schools, however he didn’t hold out much hope there and would go to any college he was accepted into.

 

Although they saw each other yesterday, Jughead was still sad that he wouldn’t be able to spend time with her in English as she had the tour. He knew he was going to be a clingy boyfriend but he never thought it would start this early, he found that his mind was usually occupied with thoughts of her whenever he wasn’t doing something. 

 

Betty finished the tour earlier than she had anticipated, after dropping the guests off at the office she decided to go to the Blue and Gold to start working on their next paper. She had already found replacements for her and Jughead but doubted that it would survive long as the students she spoke to didn’t seem as enthusiastic as her english teacher made them out to be, they’re probably just doing it for credit, she thinks. 

 

When it’s break, Jughead quickly walks out of the classroom to the cafeteria to get himself the Melted cheese Monday special, the queue is long and so he takes out his phone. His eyes widen comically when he sees three email notifications from Yale, California state and Purdue university. He’s tempted to get out of line so that he can find Betty and open it with her, but his stomach is telling him a different thing and so he waits impatiently as he tries to ignore the fact that he could just open it there. _You promised her,_ _Jughead_ , _you said you’d open your replies together,_ he tells himself. 

 

Once he has the plate of grilled cheese in his hand, he dashes over to her locker, and when he opens it to reveal no spanish textbook (which he knows is her fourth period lesson) he knows that she has already been here. He goes to check the office and is greeted by a new receptionist who he doesn’t inquire about Betty, assuming that she wouldn’t even be able to recognise the name. He sighs frustratedly to himself and wonders where else she could be, he knows where the head student meetings usually take place and he walks all the way to the other side of the school, passing the Blue and Gold office. 

 

Betty sits on the couch waiting for Jughead to swing open the door at any minute. She tells herself that he’s probably still in line for food but it never takes that long usually. Maybe he’s just busy right now. And that makes her slightly upset because he hadn’t sent her a message or anything, she realises that she’s starting to be too dependant on Jughead especially now that they’re together, maybe he just wants some time to escape from her, she thinks. 

 

Jughead makes it to the small classroom in one of the corners that has Betty’s face amongst three others on a huge poster stuck on the door. Underneath in bold letters it says _“YOUR HEAD STUDENTS”_ along with little mottos. Betty’s one says  ‘ _“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect."-Anaïs Nin_ ’ and then Jughead stuffs the last bite of toast in his mouth as he realises and speedwalks back down the hall to the Blue and Gold office. 

 

“Juggie!” Betty exclaims when the door opens. She settles down into the sofa properly now knowing that he’s here. 

 

He puts down his bag on the table, “Hey, Betts.” It comes out quite aloof. He moves to sit by her side, they seem to have no concept of personal space. “I got three emails today.” He tells her as he gently rubs his thumb over the top of her hand. 

 

“Did you open it?” She asks excitedly. 

 

“No, we promised to open them together right?” he told her, “I admit, I was so close to opening them in the line for food. You know what they had today? Usually they just have the boring old pizza and occasionally cheese sausages but today-”

 

Betty rolls her eyes, of course he’s distracted by the thought of food. “Jug!” she interrupts. “The admission letters?” 

 

“Right, right.” He reaches into his pocket to take out his phone and when he opens the gmail app, it suddenly all feels so real. Like he didn’t want to think about them graduating and being adults and actually making a decision on what you want to be for the rest of your life, but now he has to. What if he doesn’t get accepted into any college? It wouldn’t be that hard. And now he regrets only applying to eight in total. 

 

Betty senses his nerves and rests her hand on his thigh. “You can do it.” she assures him. 

 

He knows he isn’t dumb, he got pretty good results from his exams, though they weren’t anything like Betty’s, it still should be able to get him into the non ivy league schools he applied for, at least that’s what the guidance counsellor told him during their mandatory talk before winter break. “I’ll open it in order of least disappointment to most if I get rejected.” He tells her. Betty nods and hooks her arm around his, squeezing lightly when his thumb hovers over the email from Purdue. “Don’t stare at me and hold me like that, Betts, you’re making me more nervous.” She nods understandingly and pulls her arm out, he catches her wrist right before it’s all the way out of the gap between his body and arm and turns to look at her, “No, I was wrong, keep your arm there.”

 

She smiles and loops her arm back in. “Come on, Juggie.” She prompts. 

 

He nods and clicks on it quickly before he has a chance to turn back. Betty doesn’t look at his screen, instead, watching his face. She can see his eyes darting around quickly before his eyebrows raise a little and his lips tug upwards. “I’m accepted.” He tells her. 

 

“Jug!” She squeals, “I knew you could do it!” 

 

He goes back to his inbox “Don’t get so excited just yet, that’s my least disappointment in being rejected school.” He can’t help but feel pessimistic about the other two emails, not wanting to get his hopes up. Without dragging it on for any longer, he opens the California State University - Bakersfield email and lets his eyes skim. His face falls, but only slightly, at the ‘waitlisted’ under his status. 

 

Betty looks over at his screen and feels disappointed for him, “That doesn’t mean you’re rejected.” She says brightly. 

 

He nods with a sad smile. She leans up to kiss him, the first one today, and it may sound corny but he already feels better when they pull away. “You’re right,” he tells her, “I’ll probably get rejected to at least one school I applied for, it’s okay, I still have Purdue.” 

 

She smiles encouragingly at him before looking at the clock. “Okay open the Yale one! I have to leave in three minutes and I’m not going until we see your status.” 

 

Jughead nods and takes a deep breath. The fact that he had applied for a scholarship to an ivy league school made it that much more nerve racking, and he couldn’t bring himself to click on the email. “Could you do it for me, Betts.” He asks, handing her the phone. 

 

With one arm still looped in his, she uses her other hand to hold it. “Sure, are you ready?” 

 

He doesn’t nod, because he isn’t. 

 

“What about you close your eyes and I read it first and tell you.” She says softly, having rarely ever seen him this nervous before. This time he does nod and closes his eyes. Betty clicks on the email and is faced with link which she clicks onto, taking her to a login portal. 

 

“Jug…” she says. 

 

“What does it say?” He quickly opens his eyes, expecting a rejection but is faced with an account login. “Oh, I think my admissions code is 318500, if you type 3 1 then it should suggest something.” 

 

She does as instructed and clicks on the 318300 suggestion. “Close, Juggie” she giggles. “Password?”

 

He has to stop himself from kissing her then and there but even her giggle sounds so angelic and pure, he already knows she’s too good for him but just hopes he’s doing enough to make her stay with him. “Oh-” he says after realising he started thinking about something else. “The password is your phone number.” 

 

She turns to look at him with a look of surprise. “Really, Jug?” 

 

“Yeah,” He shrugs, “Now I’m glad it’s not something like bettycooper3000” he jokes. When he sees her expression light up, he knows she doesn’t think he’s creepy at all. “That was actually my password to my club penguin account in third grade. I remember we used to borrow your mom and Chic’s laptop to play.” He says. 

 

“No wonder why your password looked so long.” She tells him. “Anyways. Country code?”

 

“Phone number only, no country code.” 

 

She types it in and clicks log in. “You can close your eyes now.” He does as he’s told and he can feel his heart beating way too fast. Betty is taken to the status page and it says there’s been an update, she reads on and her breath catches when she reads “ _Congratulations on a job well done. We are pleased to inform you that you are a recipient of the 2019-2020 Yale Scholarship.”_

 

She rereads it once, and then once more just to confirm before she tells him to open his eyes. He looks at her and can’t tell at all through her face if he was accepted or not. She bounces on the sofa and pulls her arm away from his but still doesn’t say a word. After four seconds of what seemed like an eternity of poker face-ing, she can’t hide the smile on her face and allows herself to grin so widely. He’s confused, a change in emotion so quickly is something he has yet to process easily but when she shoves the phone in his hands and his eyes immediately see ‘congratulations’ and ‘recipient’ he drops his phone in his lap and wraps his arms around her. She flies into his body, slinging her own arms around his neck and hugging tightly. 

 

“Oh, Juggie,” she says with her chin on his shoulder, “I’m so proud of you.” 

 

He releases his tight grip around her waist and tries to move her back. When she lets go of him and her face is approximately seven centimeters in front of him, he caresses her cheeks with two hands and pulls her into a bruising kiss. They pull away for breaths of air quickly before getting back to it just as fast, Betty gets a notification one minute into third period asking her where she is, which makes both of them scramble to their feet, grabbing their bags quickly and running out of the door in opposite directions. Jughead doesn’t care if he’s late, Ms  González probably wouldn’t question him considering there were only four people in the class, two of which were much bigger problems than he was and the other being a girl who could never stop talking and wanted to answer all the questions. 

  
  


Jughead waits for Betty after the extra cheerleading practice Cheryl scheduled before they got on his motorbike and drove to Sweet-river com. They were an hour late but nobody really seemed to mind, smiling at them instead. Jughead told them he got the scholarship to Yale, and he couldn’t be more proud with Betty standing by his side, her arm linked with his. 

 

Mirren was the first to ask “Are you two…” 

 

“Yeah,” they said at the same time which caused Betty’s cheek to turn pink. “We’re dating.” Jughead told them before squeezing her arm gently. There were gasps going around the office from people who were just eavesdropping into the conversation. Mirren squealed and Max muttered something about knowing all along, followed with something about Mirren owing him a drink.  

 

“This calls for some celebration!” Judy noted and Marley moved from her seat behind the front desk to get the cupcakes she had baked last night for no particular reason. There wasn’t enough for the whole office and Betty and Jughead shared one. Everyone who accepted the cupcake stood by the cafe booths and all lifted their cupcakes to meet in the middle. “To bughead.” Max said when all arms were raised. 

 

Betty glanced at Jughead and knew he wished he could have a cupcake all to himself. “You can have it all.” She tells him. 

 

“No,” He replies, “This is to celebrate us. I know how to share.” 

 

They finish it quickly and dismiss themselves from the group to their desks. The internship here probably gave him that little bit of edge amongst his A’s and A*’s and he had only Betty to thank for such opportunity. Their desks were still 10 meters or so apart but he could still see her vigilantly checking her phone for emails on status updates.

 

When Jughead finally finishes the small article he was working on and emails it to one of the editors, he watches as Betty’s ponytail bobs back and forth at her phone and computer screen. She’s distracted and probably not making much progress on the restaurant review she was assigned to. Jughead pushes himself off of his desk and wheels over to Betty’s table, resting his hands on her shoulders. “Betts, don’t start worrying just yet. You have a 5.0 gpa, the highest score you could get and your SAT score shows that you’re at the top three? percent of all students taking the exams. You’ll receive your letter soon.” He says, rubbing circles over the back of her neck. 

 

“But what if I I don’t get accepted into any school, Jug.” She sighs, spinning on her chair to look at him. 

 

He takes her hands in his and shakes his head. “Did you even hear what I just said.” 

 

“Yeah, I did. But that doesn’t mean anything. Even if there’s nobody else in this town, there are probably thousands of people with the same results all around the world.” Betty sighs with a small frown. She knows how competitive it’s getting now, her extracurriculars and internship may not even compare to other people her age.

 

He attempts not to roll his eyes, even though she’s not looking at him anymore. She was worrying hundreds of times more than he was and she had no reason to, at least not that he could think of but he knew that she was hardworking like that. 

 

They’d had this conversation may times and he wished he could do something to help. Aside from getting him the internship at Sweet-river com, Betty also trusted him with the Blue and Gold for which he would always be grateful for. It would’ve been so easy for her to give him the small jobs like printing or writing about the basically non existent water polo team, but she trusted him with the bigger topics and shared the more in depth things which she knew would help him in his AP english course. She had also helped him with his few college applications, critiquing his essays and giving suggestions on how to improve, but again she always would highlight the things he did well and never told him what he had to do, just what he could do. It was his idea, to give feedback on each other’s applications but Betty didn’t want to burden him with all of hers so she only shared eight of hers, just as he had. And he couldn’t even find anything greatly useful to say unlike her.

 

All Jughead could really do was reassure her on how clever she was and be the listener of her worries. He presses a kiss at the corner of her lips and then pulls her into a hug, rubbing his hands up and down along her sweater attempting to soothe her. Betty’s grateful for him, even though she always has been, it’s just different this time. They’re basically adults now and she knows how understanding her parents would be if she were to be rejected from all the schools but she didn’t want to disappoint them, and the more Jughead reminds her how smart she is, the more stressed she feels about it.

 

Betty manages to finish one more paragraph on her review but she knows it’s not done to the best of her ability, Jughead’s hand on her knee was extremely distracting. She knows it’s not an excuse she can tell Rosie but her deadline is at the end of the week and so she doesn’t mind leaving it unfinished to go home. They get on the motorbike and Jughead drives them to Pops, despite her telling him that she’d be having dinner at home. 

 

“You need a milkshake.” He says once he has parked outside of Pops, he takes her hand in his and squeezes gently before leading her in. 

 

She’s reluctant to follow, knowing how full she’ll be later and how it could show through her cheerleading uniform in practice but she doesn’t comment, also aware of how Jughead has had to tirelessly listen to her complain about everything. Pops smiles at them when they enter and moves from wiping the table to the register. Jughead orders one vanilla and one strawberry milkshake to go after Betty stiffens by his side causing him to notice Archie in one of the booths with Mila. Jughead wonders for a split second if she’s still not over him but then the thought leaves as quickly as it came, he knows for a fact that Betty wouldn’t do that to him and more importantly herself. Betty takes out her wallet from her bag but Jughead beats her to handing the cash as it was just in his front pocket. They don’t sit at the booth, instead they walk out and sit on the sidewalk, Betty’s knees next to her chest. 

 

Jughead’s holding the two milkshakes but he extends both arms to her. “They’re yours.” He says when she doesn’t take either out of his hands. 

 

“Both?” She asks. Jughead nods and stares at her pointedly as if it was obvious. “I can’t.” She tells him quietly. 

 

He settles the two cups down on the ground in between them and puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She rests her head on his own shoulder and she’s thankful that he doesn’t push her into talking, allowing the silence of the town to takeover. 

 

Almost an hour later do they leave, the sun has pretty much set and the sky is no longer the nice shade of blue. Betty didn’t even have the stomach to finish one milkshake, drinking a third of the vanilla one and making Jughead drink the strawberry one. It does make her feel slightly better though, she doesn’t know why she suddenly felt sad, she rarely let feelings like that take over her especially in front of other people. But Jughead isn’t just any other person, she tells herself, and on the ride back to her place, she hugs onto him tighter than earlier as if he’d disappear if she let go. 

 

He turns off the engine and gets off the bike, intending to walk her to the door. Before they even get to the steps, she puts her helmet down on the floor and turns to pull him into a kiss, he’s surprised at first but he melts into the kiss easily, caressing her cheeks with his palm. They pull away but Betty keeps her hands in his hair, glad that the beanie is stuck with the helmet he left on his seat. 

 

“Sorry for being so mopy, Juggie.” Betty apologises with a soft smile. “And thank you for trying to comfort me.”

 

He pulls her to his chest and he can feel her smile against his shirt. “What’s the point of dating or even being friends if we’re not there for each other, right?” he replies easily, he can tell she’s in a better mood and that’s enough for him.

 

Betty’s arm circles around his waist. “You’re the best boyfriend and best friend anyone could ask for.” It’s true, she doesn’t want to compare him to Archie but she can’t help it and she knows that if she acted that way with Archie, he’d just ignore her and would probably be petty about it, lashing out on her the following day. 

 

Jughead takes the compliment, he wants to say something but appreciates the silence between them instead, it feels like it has always been this way. Like the universe always planned for them to be together romantically, it sounds so cliche but the only thing separating this from some movie scene is the lack of rain and cheesy confessions of love. When they pull away Jughead wishes he could go back to smelling her hair and misses the feeling of her pressed against him. 

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?” She offers. “You could stay the night.” She adds, her parents probably wouldn’t mind nor would they have to know that they’re sharing the same bed and not pulling out a mattress. 

 

Jughead declines, he has his history paper to finish he tells her, Betty already completed hers last night but she knows she can’t stop him from doing his work. They kiss again, Jughead initiates it this time and it seems to be never ending. Betty even whimpers at one point and hopes that none of her neighbors are out on their lawns. Once they finally pull away from each other, Betty takes the helmet from the ground and walks up the steps to the door. 

 

Her hand pauses over the handle and she turns back to Jughead who’s watching her from where they were standing earlier, a satisfied grin on his face. “You won’t even come in to say hi to my parents?” She asks. Anything for him to stay longer. 

 

An expression forms on his face, it’s soft and hopeful and sort of shy and it’s the kind of expression she knows he reserves just for her. “I think they’ll make me stay over. As tempted as I am to spend more time with you, my answer is still no.” 

 

She pouts at him but nods. “Drive safely, text me when you get home.”

 

He walks back to his bike and fastens his helmet on before turning on the engine. He glances back over at Betty who’s ogling at him and he really wishes that he doesn’t have to go back home. “I’ll text you later, bye, Betts” he hears her call bye as he drives away and Betty only opens the door once Jughead is out of sight.

  
  


They have dinner together at Pop’s on Tuesday and Wednesday, Betty isn’t sure if it’s a date, after all it’s what they usually did when they’d hangout. Except now they sit next to each other instead of on opposite sides of the table. 

 

On Tuesday she has cheer practice so Jughead finalises the layout for the next Blue and Gold paper whilst she’s on the field. When he’s satisfied with his work, he goes down to the pitch and watches her from the side and he can hear footballers on the other side of the field whistling. Betty looks at Jughead and he offers a small smile although he doubts she can see, apparently she does and she winks in response. When Cheryl dismisses them, she runs to Jughead and his arms are around her waist in a second, pulling her into a kiss, their tongues mingling. She soon pulls away once someone catcalls behind them and glares at the footballer before putting her lips back on his. 

 

“I’m sweaty,” she tells him when he begins to pepper kisses along her jaw

 

He doesn’t stop though, but when his lips do leave her skin she lets out a small whimper. “Office.” He tells her. They release each other when they go through the entrance of the school and she walks in the direction of the changing room. Betty swings open the locker and grabs all her things faster than she has before, Veronica watches her do so and whispers ‘go get some’ when Betty walks past. Betty rolls her eyes before waving goodbye and rushing out of the door. When she enters the Blue and Gold, Jughead is quick to hoist her up and she wraps her legs around his waist eagerly. He props her onto the desk and leans over her until her back is flat on the table. His hands go under her shirt and he gently runs his hands up and down. 

 

“Can I take it off?” He asks, though the position they’re in is a little compromising. Her response is to remove the shirt herself and he allows himself to stare for a second before lowering his lips to the dip of her breasts. She arches into him and sighs contentedly. His hands are everywhere on her upper body and she freezes when they move to the back of her bra. 

 

Jughead removes himself from the skin below her ear to look into her eyes. “Can I?” He says in a low voice. It’s one thing to see her without her shirt and another without her bra but he’ll willingly accept anything and would rather she was comfortable than feel obliged to take off her bra. She nods after a moment of hesitation, still not sure how she feels about him seeing her in complete daylight. He fumbles with the hook for a couple seconds and she giggles at his furrowed eyebrows. Once it’s unclasped he tries to take it off. 

 

“The mechanics of bras are so complicated.” Jughead notes when she takes over and removes it herself. Her back is still pressed against the desk and when Jughead doesn’t say anything again, she moves her arms slightly to cover her chest and stomach. 

 

“Hey, hey,” he says gently before moving her arms, he knows how she feels self conscious even more so after training, constantly comparing herself to other teammates after practice. “You’re so beautiful.” He has never understood the male obsession over female breasts, they’re just part of a woman’s body, it’s like grass is green, the sky is blue. Nothing out of the ordinary. Even through this, he can’t help but to stare shamelessly at her and his obsession is Betty Cooper, not for her intelligence, not for her breasts that are so full and right in front of him, just for him. His obsession is her, the way her nose crinkles when she realises she made a mistake in a math problem, or how she never uses autocorrect, trying four or even five times before searching it up. How she blushes from the tips of her ear whenever he compliments her, and how she sighs ‘Juggie’ when his lips are on her just the way she likes. Everything about her is his newest but somehow oldest obsession.“Just… wow.” he finally says huskily, he wishes he had another way to describe the sight in front of him but his eighteen years of english is failing him and he’s at a loss for words. “So hot.” he murmurs 

 

Betty blushes and giggles for the three thousandth time since they started this, she would be lying if she said that it didn’t make it even better that her once best friend was saying stuff like this. She doesn’t think anyone has ever called her hot before. It was usually sweet or pretty but never hot. She moves her arms to the side of her and has to resist the urge to suck in her stomach. 

 

If him gawking at her breasts are any indication of how he feels about her, he still confirms it for her again, “So, so, so beautiful.” 

 

She releases a breath she didn’t even realise she was holding and threads her fingers through his hair, knocking the beanie off. She moves his lips to hers and he’s hunched over the desk, it’s an awkward position but Jughead is too in awe of her to move. 

 

“I wish you didn’t feel insecure.” He tells her, his breath tickling her neck. The previous hickeys from before are almost gone so he doesn’t feel bad when his lips close around her skin and latches onto her, leaving wet and surely visible marks. 

 

As much as his kisses are turning her on, she just wants more, more of his hands on her. “Jug, touch me.” 

 

His lips part from her collarbone just slightly and he lets out a breath. “I- I don’t know what to do.” he admits quietly. 

 

“I don’t either.” she replies solemnly. “Just put your hand somewhere, Juggie.” her fingers curl around his collar to bring him closer to her once again. 

 

He’s unsure of where to put his hands, this is all new to him but he decides on cupping her breasts with his palms. Her nipples have hardened, probably under the cool air but maybe also because of his touch. He squeezes softly, groping and caressing. When he lowers his head, his hands move to her neck while his mouth presses light kisses on her chest. He sucks playfully, and then harder before moving to her other boob. Later, Betty tugs him back up to her lips and they kiss slowly. She takes his hand from her waist and brings it to her breast again, offering silent guidance. 

 

It’s almost painful to remove his lips from her but Jughead does so anyways, he has to stretch after bending over her for so long and Betty can see his arm muscles flex. He helps her up from the table, one hand on her waist and the other holding her hand. Jughead reaches for the bra that she threw on the other side of the table and helps her put it on before handing her uniform and then putting his own shirt on. With all articles of clothing on, they turn off the lights to the room and walk out. Practice ended at half past five and it’s almost been an hour since so Betty understands when the janitor stares at them with a questioning look on his face. They drive over to Pop’s and Betty gets the chicken breast salad, she removes the sauce to reduce the amount of fat she consumes. Jughead offers her his fries and would’ve offered his milkshake if he had gotten that instead of coffee but she stubbornly declines. 

 

When she rests her head on his shoulder, his hand snakes under her skirt and she has to hold his wrist to prevent him from going anymore. They haven’t done anything down there yet but she can’t deny the ache in between her legs especially after their heated touches and kisses earlier so she knows she wants to do it. But she doesn’t want to rush it or rush him. How soon is too soon to think about that? He doesn’t pursue, and leaves his palm against her thigh.

 

He smiles sheepishly at her, “Now that I know what’s underneath your shirt it’s taking all of me to pretend that I’m not the hardest right now than I’ve ever been before.” 

 

Her eyes dart upwards to look at him under her lashes before she pulls away. “Jug!’ She exclaims. 

 

Jughead raises his hand in surrender, “I’m only human!” He replies in a similar light tone, “I’d be concerned with myself if my body had no reaction.” 

 

She nods and puts another forkful of lettuce into her mouth. She seems to be thinking about whether she should say something or not so Jughead watches her silently. “I guess that’s better than you being turned off.” She says finally after swallowing. 

 

Jughead chuckles and shakes his head. “Never, baby.” The pet name slips out again but she doesn’t seem to mind, in fact she moves closer to him again, their bodies touching. 

 

“Archie told me his dick deflated when he first saw me like that.” She replies, remembering how easy it came out of his mouth without thinking of the consequences. “He said he was so turned off that he considered breaking up with me.” 

 

Jughead wants to scream or slam a fist onto the table but Betty appears to be very at peace with the memory. “God,” Jughead manages to say in a somewhat hushed tone. “He is such an asshole. I just want to punch him more now. Please let me punch him.” 

 

She responds with a kiss on his jaw and grabs his arm to put around her neck, before shimmying even closer to him. “How did you start dating him?” Jughead asks after a couple seconds of playing with her hair wordlessly. They’d never spoken about this, Jughead realises that Archie never really came up in their conversations before so he knows little to nothing about his and Betty’s relationship. 

 

“When he moved to Riverdale his dad bumped into Veronica’s mom, they apparently were highschool friends back in the day and so it was inevitable that he and Veronica met. V introduced me to him, I think she may have had a little crush on him as well. The three of us hung out together, he was kind of different then” Betty shrugs, her memory of this is a little fuzzy, Archie’s arrival is not of much importance to her if she’s being completely honest. 

 

Jughead continues twirling her ponytail around his finger. 

 

“I became a cheerleader that year, Veronica as well. Archie also joined the football team. But by the time spring formal came, V had a crush on this coffee boy and Archie knew that. His friends sort of peer-pressured him into asking me to the dance, everyone except Veronica was supporting him, and I didn’t have the heart to turn him down when he asked me at the cafeteria in front of our whole grade. After that we kind of just were a couple, that’s what everyone assumed of us anyways.” 

 

Jughead nodded, he could see why she started dating him, the stereotypical high school sweethearts. Or friends to lovers or something of that sort. It’s kind of what’s happening between the two of them now, but Jughead knows he won’t make the mistake of treating her like she’s some random girl unlike Archie. No, she’s Betty Cooper and she deserves way better than Archie, he’ll even admit that she deserves better than him but he’s not going to let her go without proving himself. 

 

After more silence, in which Betty contemplates whether she should continue sharing more information or not, she finally decides that she has nothing to lose in telling him. “It’s actually not the first time Archie has done that.” she says. ‘That’ being cheating on her with Mila. 

 

His expression is mainly astonishment and frustration at how stupid Archie was. “It wasn’t?” He replies, signaling for her to go on. 

 

Betty sits up to look at him at eye level. “No,” she admits. “I think it was almost our second year of dating. We, mainly V, caught him kissing another cheerleader, who has graduated now, despite telling us that he was going to be preparing for a test when we invited him to watch a movie at my place. I was angry but not really upset, Veronica yelled at him for me and he apologised and promised that it wouldn’t happen again. He said he loved me for the first time that night, I hadn’t forgiven him yet but I still said I loved him too.” 

 

He gazes softly at her, if only he had been there for her when this happened. “Betts…” 

 

“I think-” Betty confesses, “that’s part of the reason why I’m so self-conscious about myself. I was never even good enough for my own boyfriend.” She sighed. “When he’d see me in my cheerleading uniform he’d tell me to eat more salads, he’d say something about me being the only girl on the team to still eat at Pop’s on a regular basis-” She can feel her eyes start to water, certainly not because of Archie and not because it’s the first time she has ever acknowledged this out loud but because she’s talking to Jughead about it, and he’s listening, actually listening, not just nodding when he sees fit. And he’s there, really there, he has been all along and there’s a feeling rooted deep down her that is so, so apologetic that she had just accepted that Jughead stopped sending letters for no apparent reason, that she wasn’t there for him when his dad and mom were having problems. 

 

She’s cut off by Jughead’s lips on hers again, and his hands have closed around her own. When she closes her eyes, two tears slide down her cheeks, and she decides that it’s already two tears too many. If other people saw this, they’d think she was just being silly -no Cooper cried in public. 

 

She pulls away with a sniffle. “Sorry,”

 

Jughead raises his thumb and gently wipes the tears away. “No, don’t be.” he says when she rests her forehead against his. “Your hands are freezing.” 

 

“I know.” She whispers in return. “I’m sorry.” 

 

“Betts, stop apologising.” He rubs his hands along hers and then brings them to his lips to breathe warm air on her hands. He curses himself for not having his usual flannel tied to his waist that he can offer to Betty, so he just pulls her in closer until she’s basically on his lap and runs his hands up and down her arm. He pushes a lock of hair out of her face and tucks it behind her ear, her ponytail is considerably messier now and it’s partially Jughead’s fault for taking out her ponytail in the blue and gold earlier. “You’re so smart, and so kind and so beautiful. Objectively and-“

 

“Objectively?” Betty teases.

 

Jughead offers her a smile. “Archie didn’t deserve you, he never has and never will. You can’t compare yourself to other people like that, Betts.” His tone is soft and he’s cradling her like she’s a five year old that fell off a bike and ended up with a bloody knee. It’s pathetic, she knows but she feels more understood and loved in the past minute than she ever has from Archie before. “I’m willing to bet that there are other girls in the squad that are comparing themselves to you, just as you are to them-“ 

 

Betty snorts as elegantly as a snort can be and rolls her eyes. But Jughead doesn’t stop. 

 

“-and I know what you’d tell them, you’d say something like... you’re your own person, and you’re wonderful and great so don’t compare yourself to me.” Jughead is speaking slowly, honestly he doesn’t really know what she’d say but he knows her well enough to make something up. “So now I’m telling you that. You’re different and so strong and gorgeous and -well I could go on forever but the point is that you shouldn’t aspire to be someone else. In terms of appearance or otherwise.” It’s not a perfect speech and he wishes he was more composed but he decides that it’s not too bad. 

 

Betty’s right ear is pressed against his chest and she can feel his laboured breathing and heaving chest as he’s finished. She hugs him closer to her and chuckles at how silly she’s being, Jughead was right and she shouldn’t have listened to Archie all that time. Jughead uses his free arm to get the remaining piece of red cabbage off her plate to feed her. 

 

“Enough about me,” she says after swallowing, “I’m sure you were quite the heartbreaker in Chester if your turning down of four girls this year has indicated anything.” It was true, he had turned down the few girls that asked him out but in his defense, he had already made it very clear that he wasn’t interested in dating when he announced to the whole corridor the first time that he wanted nothing to do with girls. All his classmates after that should’ve learnt not to ask him, or at least be prepared for rejection. 

 

Jughead wants to make sure she’s okay, not everyday does she allow herself to cry in public. But the smile she gives him and wide eyes stop him from treating her like a porcelain doll that just may crack, he’ll give her the space she needs. “Well there was this one girl, her name was Anastassia. I think it was two years ago, she asked me to the movies. I neither accepted or rejected her but a week later before gym, she slapped me, said we were broken up or something.” He remembers her dark chocolate coloured hair in braids hitting his face as she spun on her heel. This makes Betty laugh so he feels accomplished even though he just embarrassed himself. 

 

Betty checks her phone for the first time since second period and is greeted by five emails regarding her acceptance. None from an ivy but still it counts for something. She’s still in Jughead’s lap which helps calm her nerves or whatever, so she doesn’t hesitate as much as he did when she opens them. She’s accepted into four of them and put on the waitlist for Johns Hopkins. Betty sighs disappointedly into Jughead’s shirt and he rubs her back to comfort her. 

 

“If I can’t even get into Johns Hopkins then why do I think I’m going to be accepted at Harvard.” she says with a slight quiver of her lip. 

 

Jughead presses a kiss to her temple. “Because I was offered a scholarship to Yale. There’s nothing I can do that you can’t.” 

 

He enters the house this time with her and watches as Betty tells her parents about her status. They’re happy, of course and they’re quick to console her when she says she has been waitlisted. Jughead tells her to look on the bright side. UCLA has a good psychology program, she tells him as she walks him to his motorbike, “I could do that if I’m not accepted anywhere else”, she adds. After a tight hug and long, sensual kiss, he leaves a smiling Betty by her doorstep. She sleeps surprisingly well but she guesses it’s because she still hasn’t received anything from Harvard or Yale which means there’s still hope. 

  
  


On Wednesday, at Sweet-river com, he convinces her to go to Pop’s for dinner and after sending her draft of a restaurant review, Betty takes his hand in hers and leads them to his bike. He’s adamant on her getting a burger and a milkshake this time and she caves, she doesn’t want the salad as much as he doesn’t. They joke about Rosie’s fits in the office and they reminisce about their trips abroad when his parents dropped him off at the Cooper’s residence without so much of a thank you for taking their son on holiday. For that one hour, she forgets about her first ivy rejection from Cornell. 

  
  


On Thursday, they stay after school for a while just to print copies of next week’s blue and gold paper. They’re done in less than half an hour and speed down the road on the bike to the tutoring centre. She notices that he’s a bit stiff, kind of nervous even if he isn’t showing it. They’re giving the seven kids a test today, having made seven different papers that suit each of their skill levels, Betty feels confident that they’ll all do well if they’ve been listening to her and Jughead. The kids are happy to see them, jumping gleefully when they enter the classroom. After the usual five minute chatter and catch-up, the room falls to silence as they all have their heads down to look at their own tests. 

 

She and Jughead play footsies under the table, yes very childish but still fun, and then they go on to do their own work, taking advantage of the peace. In the middle, Jughead sees one of the boys peering over their own arm to look at another paper next to him, Jughead nudges Betty and nods towards the boy. Betty sighs and says his name warningly; the boy, Peter, who so obviously has a crush on her, nods and mouths an apology before flashing a toothy grin and looking back down at his paper. Jughead rolls his eyes, he’s tempted to say something like ‘she’s mine’ but chooses just to stare adoringly at her.

 

“Alright!” Betty says, ticking off the last child’s worksheet. “te veo la próxima semana!”  _ see you next week _ . Jughead helps them put their work inside their folders while Betty excuses herself to the bathroom. She spends a while inside, bringing her hair down from its tight ponytail before tying it up again into a messy bun when she isn’t satisfied with her hair brushing her shoulders. When she walks back out, she can still see parents standing by the entrance and she checks her watch, they’re already five minutes over. 

 

“Jug?” Betty asks as she walks to the door. “What’s taking so long,” pushing open the door she keeps walking, “we don’t want to keep the parents waiti-“ A smile forms on her face as she looks at the sight in front of her. Jughead is standing by the window with a shy smile and a single rose in his hand. The kids, four of which are holding drawings of what she assumes is the two of them are jumping gleefully in the same spot. The three older kids are holding their own piece of paper. 

 

‘Quieres’ ‘salir’ ‘conmigo?’  _ Do you want to go out with me?  _

 

Her eyes travel along the line of children before looking back at Jughead again, he walks around the big table towards her and holds out a rose. 

 

“Well?” his voice cracks, she can tell he’s nervous as if she’d say no. “Will you go on a date with me tomorrow night, Betty?”

 

A childish giggle slips out of her lips as she takes the rose from his fingers. His fingers hook around the waistband of her skirt to pull her closer to him. “Of course, Juggie.” she sighs, the breath of air tickling his chin. He closes the gap between them and appreciates the pillow like softness of her lips and the taste of mints on her breath. The synchronised high pitched ‘ewwww’ in the background forces them to pull away after two seconds. Betty opens the door and gestures to the door, the kids each pick up their bags and line up to leave. Jughead’s arm is still around her waist as they file out one by one, handing her their drawings and the papers with a word on it. Peter announces that he has a secret for her and when Betty kneels down by his side, he whispers the same words that Jughead did in her ear. 

 

“Sorry, Peter,” she tells him, standing back up. “Not today.” She says as she takes Jughead’s hands in hers. 

 

Peter frowns in response. “What about next week?” 

 

“You need to find someone that’s similar to your age. I’m double yours. It’s not meant to be.” She gently nudges him out the door and waves at his mom. 

 

As his mom takes his bag from him, he calls out “I’ll ask you next week!” before walking out of the centre. 

 

Jughead spins her around to face him and wraps his arms around her waist into a hug, she buries her head in the crook of his neck. He drives them to her house just in time to say goodbye to her parents as they leave for three nights for a journalist retreat. He offers to stay the night with her so she doesn’t feel lonely but Betty informs him that she already invited Veronica over for a sleepover and she’d probably whack him with a bat before allowing him to intrude on their ‘girl time’. Jughead leaves, after a long kiss with her making him want more, as Veronica arrives and they exchange greetings in the form of silent nods. 

 

Veronica has some takeaway dinner from a chinese restaurant and so they settle themselves in front of the TV with their meals in their hands pretty fast. Veronica chooses the movie on netflix and then Betty tells her about the date she has with Jughead tomorrow. 

 

“Oh my god! Swoon.” Veronica says with her hand pressed over her heart. “Who knew he was such a softie, including the kids in the ask out.” 

 

Betty shows her the rose he had given her before setting it back on the small table in front of them. “B,” Veronica gasps after searching up the meanings of different coloured roses. “The yellow rose with a red tip means friendship or falling in love.” 

 

Betty smiles at the thought of Jughead researching beforehand what the colours meant. She remembers telling him when they were eight, having their own small dance party in her room, that the way to her heart was always through flowers. This was when she was obsessed with flowers but the statement still rang true, he probably remembered this conversation even thought it was ten years ago. While Veronica continues to ramble on about how cute they are together, Betty tries to think of what Jughead has told her about his preferences. The only thing at the top of her mind is that he doesn’t like secret confessions of people liking him but Betty decides that they’re already past that stage so it doesn’t seem that relevant to her anymore. She vaguely remembers him telling her that his first date would have a lot of food and they would eat until they pass out and Betty can only imagine the Pop’s bill at the end of the date, assuming they do go to Pop’s. She sighs and when Veronica asks her what’s wrong, Betty admits that she’s still a little frightened about their relationship. They were so close as friends and she’s afraid that she might ruin it for a chance at love. 

 

“A chance at love hmmm?” Veronica teases after reassuring her that they’re a good couple and will get through whatever. 

 

Betty blushes and hides her face in her hands. “Stop it…is it too soon?” She has always known that she loved Jughead, maybe not romantically when they were still children but her only feeling towards him was and still is love. She can’t describe the feeling, he knows her better than anyone, better than herself and there’s never a dull moment with him, never a time when she wishes she were somewhere else. 

 

Veronica shrugs and puts her empty plate on the table. “I’m not the right person to ask, only you know the answer to that, B.” her reply is ambiguous but Betty thinks she can decode it. She’ll tell him when she’s really sure. Even though she already is, she’s going to wait for the right moment, but when is the right moment?

 

After the movie ends, they go on to watch another one whilst doing their nails per Veronica’s suggestion. She also has a date tomorrow night with Brody and wanted to dress up nicely as they were going to some cuisine in Greendale. Veronica chose to have her fingernails painted navy blue while Betty chose a pale shade of lilac. Betty didn’t have that many options so they just go with what she has, drying the fresh coat of nail polish with two tiny fans. 

  
  


Friday is usually Betty’s free day, provided Cheryl doesn’t schedule an extra cheer practice. Her last few fridays always had extra as there were still a few football games but it always ended with dinner with Jughead. So in a way, the date for tonight would be falling on the perfect day. Jughead hoped that it wouldn’t randomly rain, otherwise everything he had planned would be ruined, he crossed his fingers and looked at the sky between every class just to make sure. History passed by slowly for both Jughead and Betty, Ms Holiday had started a new project and she had made groups. Betty couldn’t fathom why she was never paired with Jughead, it’s like every single teacher was in on this thing where they weren’t allowed to work together. Instead pairing them with the kid who falls asleep in lesson or the one that never does their homework. 

 

He waits for her at the carpark by his motorbike, he’d suspected she would be late as her psychology lessons always went overtime. Betty rushes down to meet him and sprints over to where he’s standing when they catch each other’s eyes. “Juggie.” She breathes as he pulls her into a hug. He takes her glossy pink helmet and helps her put it on. He can’t help but to stare at her for a few seconds, she’s wearing a helmet he got for her, and she actually appreciated the effort instead of thinking he was being weird. Jughead remembers the expression she had on her face, her eyes lit up, when he gave it to her the first time, telling her she had no excuse not to go on the bike anymore. She joked that it didn’t match with his all black bike, and he was tempted to reply that her whole being didn’t match with his. 

 

When they arrive at her place, Jughead stops a little further into the driveway, right by the garage. He apologises for not being able to keep her company in the empty house but he has stuff to do in preparation of the date. As Betty fits the key into the door she looks back over her shoulder. 

 

“You probably won’t tell me -but it’s worth the shot” She starts. “Where will we go tonight?” she asks curiously. 

 

Jughead places his index finger to the grin that formed on his face before mouthing ‘it’s a secret’ 

 

She rolls her eyes but still giggles “I need to know how to dress.” Betty informs him. “Are we going to Pop’s?” 

 

“Baby, we always go to Pop’s,” Jughead replies quickly and softly -like it would be too regular if their first date was there. Betty didn’t mind, or care about labels on their first date but Jughead wanted it to be special for her. “It’s a surprise.” He glances at the time on his phone, realising how he’s already behind schedule. He gets back on the motorbike and turns the engine on. Betty takes this as a sign for her to say bye, so she does. 

 

“Betts!” He calls after her before reversing out of the Cooper’s driveway. Betty stops pushing open the door and turns around to look at him. “Just -uh dress like yourself. You don’t need to wear anything different.” He offers a smile, one that she knows all too well. 

 

She doesn’t say anything for a while. She can’t tell if he’s just being sincere after her telling him about Archie forcing her to wear Polly’s dresses. Or if they actually aren’t going to be anywhere that requires her to dress nicely. “Alright,” she says finally, it doesn’t matter to her which one it is. She knows Jughead is putting a lot of effort into this so she’ll have to try as well. “I’ll see you later, Juggie.” 

 

Jughead nods, “Pick you up at half past seven.” He reminds her before driving away. He gets back home in record time, passing all the green lights a couple seconds before turning red. When he enters the flat, he’s greeted with all the things he bought the day before. He removes the fridge magnet off of the crumpled sheet of paper that he wrote his plan on and quickly skims through it to remind himself. He quickly starts on the cheesecake recipe he had found that was supposed to mimic the one Betty loved so much from Harmony Valley. As he waits for the pasta to boil and the cake to finish baking, he takes one of the cookies he baked last night and puts it into his mouth, swallowing it whole. 

 

Betty leisurely walks in and is greeted by the emptiness of her home, she drops her bag off by the sofa and then goes to her room. She texts Chic, asking if he wants to call but he says the room is too loud so he can only text her. Betty tells him about her date with Jughead and he replies with a bunch of letters combined in a SKDJOWDOBDEO!!! form. By the time Betty has finished explaining to both Chic and Polly and briefly going through his ask out with her parents, over an hour has passed. And she and Chic have their regular weekly catch up which adds on almost another hour. When she’s done, there’s still adequate time to prepare for the date. 

 

She knows he said not to dress differently but she can’t help herself, knowing how much he’d appreciate it if she did wear something different despite what he said. So she digs through her closet to the very bottom and takes out the untouched, neatly folded dress that she got with Veronica almost three years ago. She didn’t really want it but Veronica insisted that it was the perfect dress for her, Betty found no occasion to wear it since and so the price tag still remained. It was a periwinkle satin dress with thin spaghetti straps, it revealed her collarbone which still had a hickey she needed to cover but she knew that the lack of fabric there and the short length of the dress would do something to Jughead. She doesn’t really like the way the dress clings onto her body, revealing her curves and not flat stomach and she doesn’t like how her nails don’t match her dress but before she even has the chance to pick herself apart one by one, her phone rings. 

 

“Hey, V” She greets and puts her friend on speaker. They apparently both need the company as they get ready for their respective dates. They each send pictures of themselves in their outfits and Veronica recommends for her to wear her strappy stilettos that she had gotten last year for junior prom. When they end the call, Betty goes to their storage room to find the shoebox containing said heels. She finds it besides Polly’s box of old toys. Betty warily tries them on and walks around the house in them, trying to get used to the feeling but she hadn’t worn such thin and high heels since last year’s prom so she kind of wobbles every step she takes. 

 

At exactly 7:30, the doorbell rings. Betty couldn’t even hear the motorbike pull up over the sound of her heavy heartbeat. They’ve been out on so many dinners together and spent their whole childhood with one another but somehow she still feels nervous for tonight. Just as she’s about to open the door, her eyes catch onto the shoes she wore to school earlier that are left by her bag and at the last moment, she takes off her stilettos and puts on her white Keds. 

 

Jughead shifts from his left foot to his right nervously and runs his hands through his air as he attempts to wait patiently. He can hear some shuffling behind the door and takes it as a sign that she’s close to opening the door. He honestly doesn’t know what he’s expecting, he had told her to dress the same so he wouldn’t even be surprised if she was still in her light pink collared shirt and shorts that she was wearing earlier. In fact, the shorts were way above her knees so it still allowed him to gawk at her long legs. When she does open the door, his breath is literally taken out of his lungs. Like -he has to take a huge breath in after his heart stops momentarily. 

 

She looks at him, still inside her house, and the first thing she notices is his beanieless attire. No beanie. Nothing covering his beautiful locks. She just wants to run her hands through his hair. “No beanie today?” She says quietly but it comes out as a question.

 

His eyes meet hers with a shy grin. “I heard that some pretty girl liked my hair.” He shrugs. If the fact that she always knocked his beanie off her head whenever they did more than just kiss wasn’t enough evidence, the look she was giving him just proved his statement further. 

 

His hands move to her waist and he rubs it up and down the fabric, studying her for a couple seconds before settling his hands on her hips and pulling her closer to him. “Betts, you look ravishing.” He compliments simply and she blushes deep red, her chin dipping downwards. “No hair tie?” He comments, imitating her previous question. Betty decided to leave her hair brushing her back in loose curls because she knew the night would probably consist of him taking the hair tie out at one point. She had considered straightening it but also didn’t want to go too over the top. 

 

She shrugs as well. “I know you like my hair down better.” 

 

He shakes his head slowly as his hands go up to cup her jaw. “I like your hair whichever way you like your hair.” He replies against her lips. She sighs contentedly before closing the tiny gap and kissing him, lips separating as an entrance for his tongue. 

 

When they pull away, she finally looks at the motorbike. On the back seat, a huge picnic basket is attached with two strings. It’s one of those traditional ones with the red and white checkers and Betty knows that it’s from the little red riding hood play their grade did when they were eight. Betty was little red riding hood and her parents had brought in the basket as a prop, it was too big and she couldn’t carry it back home the last day but Jughead offered to help her. She let him keep it in the end seeing how much he enjoyed opening and closing the lid. 

 

He offers his arm out to her and she takes it, following him to the motorbike. “On a scale of one to ten… how much do you like that dress?” he smiles sheepishly at her. “I’m afraid it might tear if you sit on the bike. I did not plan for you to wear a dress like that.”

 

Betty is immediately embarrassed and self conscious, he did say to dress herself and although she thought the dress was her style, maybe she did over do it. She felt silly and shifted awkwardly away from him. As if Jughead could see the hurt in her eyes, he’s quick to pull her even closer and places a soothing hand on the crook of her neck. Betty eventually looks up and her eyes are met with his kind but worried gaze . “Betts, I am certainly not complaining,” he traces circles on her skin with his thumb. “Sure, it’s unexpected but it’s just as you were and still are in my life. You’re too good for me, I know and I’ve woken up everyday expecting this all to just be a dream, and in reality I’m not dating you. Just as I felt when we first became friends.” 

 

Betty’s eyes immediately soften. “Jug…” 

 

“No, I know you’re going to say something about how you also feel like that and whatnot but that’s not what this is about. I’m so, so happy that you’re wearing this dress I’ve never seen before and disappointed that I’m wearing the same S shirt you’ve seen every other day since the start of the first semester. I don’t want you to ruin your nice dress. I don’t mind if you need to change, I’ll wait out here.” 

 

“No,” Betty smiles at him. “I think it’ll be fine. Should we go?” 

 

Jughead helps her onto the back of the bike, the dress does restrict her but she can still sit somewhat comfortably. For almost being 8 pm, it’s still relatively bright, the sun hasn’t completely set yet so Betty enjoys the view with her hands in Jughead’s jacket pocket. She realises pretty early on that they’re going to the park, she doesn’t remember the last time she’s been. She and Jughead walk past it as they go back from sweet-river com but otherwise, she hasn’t sat inside for at least two years. Jughead remembers vividly his last time at the park, they were twelve, probably a couple of weeks before he left Riverdale.

 

_ Her family went out on a picnic for lunch and of course he was included, Betty even brought an extra bike so that they could play together. Betty begged her parents to let her play for a while longer when it neared four o clock but Chic had a state exam the next day and so her parents wouldn’t budge. Jughead stayed quiet, not wanting to sound entitled but he was still disappointed that she had to leave whereas his parents would’ve undoubtedly believed he was in his room and not at the park. Betty was never a child that’d cry to get her ways, especially not at the ripe age of twelve but Chic could practically feel the sadness radiating off her as they were walking away and convinced them to allow her to stay with Jughead for a while longer as she already finished her homework. Riverdale was safe, and small and so the park always had a jogger or a grandma on the bench. Jughead and Betty flew into each other’s arms before moving to hold hands and bidding goodbye to her parents. Betty sensibly instructed them to push their bikes until they were in the park.  _

 

_ Upon entering through the meter high fence, Betty hopped on to her bike and rode onto the grass. “Race to the tree!” She called out with a giggle. “Loser buys ice cream!” she exclaimed as she began pedalling. Jughead never bought their ice cream, his parents never had money to spare for his hangouts with Betty. But he still frowned despite her back already being turned against him.  _

 

_ “Hey!” Jughead yelled. He still hadn’t fit into his voice that was slowly but surely getting deeper. “You cheater.” he accused. She was already way ahead of her but he still managed to catch up, the front wheel of his bike aligned with the back wheel of hers. Betty was at the tree first, dumping her bike on the side. The tree, their tree, was one of the tallest in the park. Though the height didn’t compare with the trees at sweetwater river that they loved climbing, it was still a fierce competitor with the fresh flowers that grew off from the branches. When Betty was seven and started having an interest in flowers, she brought him to this tree and they spent an hour flipping through the big encyclopedia of flowers until they found the apricot flower. He still remembers how excited she was when he recognised it on the page. The flowers that bloomed on the tree were irregular and so they learnt to appreciate it whenever it was still there.  _

 

_ Betty leaned against the tree trunk, standing in the wet soil beneath her in her new white converse. Jughead pointed it out and she shrugged, telling him it could be washed off. The sound of the ice cream truck neared and Betty assumed she’d buy it even though she did get to the tree first. He tailed behind her as she walked up to the truck, the ice cream lady smiled brightly at Betty. All adults loved her. She got him a cone of chocolate soft serve, his usual, and a strawberry and cream popsicle for herself. They happily went back to the tree, fingers woven together before messily sitting down on the ground.  _

 

_ “Look, Jug!” Betty said, running back towards him after throwing away the wooden stick. She had a bark of wood in her hands. She turned her palms towards him and showed him the heart shape that was carved on along with two names that were barely legible. “I found it on the floor.” She tells him proudly.  _

 

_ She hands it to him and he takes it into his own hands. “It’s cool, Betts. Do you want to try?” He asks, her eyes light up even more and they each start finding the perfect bark of wood within a twenty meter radius. They settle for one he finds by the bench but struggle to even leave a mark on it, not to mention their names. Betty was obviously disappointed but Jughead doesn’t really mind. He wanted her to be happy though. “Maybe we can just write our names on it?” He suggested.  _

 

_ “Juggie, that’s a good idea.” She replied with an approving nod. He takes her small backpack from the basket on her bike and takes out the pencil case. Yes, Betty Cooper was always prepared; if that meant bringing an entire pencil case to a picnic, so be it. He finds her blue permanent marker and tries to draw on it, he writes his own name and then gives the pen to her so that she can sign her name as well. It’s hardly visible though because of the wood’s natural dark colour. Jughead picks up a rock from besides him.  _

 

_ “It’s kind of heavy, nicely shaped and also a light shade of grey” He tells her. They’d already established what the perfect rock would be like and this was fitting right into their criteria. “We can give it a face and a name, and write our names behind it.”  _

 

_ Betty nods and he draws on two dots, she adds a big lopsided grin and eyebrows. Always paying attention to detail. She writes her name at the back and then gives it to Jughead. “What should we name it?” She asks.  _

 

_ Jughead looks around for inspiration, the ice cream truck drives around the corner again. “What about Milo?” after the milo ice cream that was advertised on the side of the truck.  _

 

_ Betty lays on her back. “The best name for our baby.” she agrees. “We should leave him here so he can stay with his friends. Otherwise we’d have to take all of them home with us.”  _

 

_ Jughead follows Betty in laying on the floor and puts the rock in her soft hands. “Of course, there’s no other way.” He said sarcastically and she playfully elbows him on his side.  _

  
  


_ A week after he’s gone to Chester, Betty goes to their tree to look for Milo. Her vision is blurred by the tears filling her eyes at all the memories at the tree. She can’t find Milo. She takes it as a sign that it’s just in their destiny. She thinks about how on a Friday afternoon she’d be doing her homework by Jughead’s side and once they were both done they’d take out a puzzle and work on it until dinner, each with a fresh glass of lemonade on the side.  _

  
  


Jughead eventually finds a motorbike spot somewhere close to the entrance. After helping Betty off her seat, he goes to take the picnic basket. She offers to help him hold it and all he can do is to send her a perplexed expression and a slight shake of his head before holding out his hand for her to take a hold of. He leads them to the tree and sighs a huge breath of relief when the picnic blanket, candle holder and candles are still in tact. He turns to face her and gestures for her to take a seat. She does, and he soon accompanies her, lighting the candle. Now it’s dark and so the vanilla scented candle, although basic but her favourite scent, provides warmth and light. He wordlessly opens the picnic basket and begins taking out its contents, the basket is filled to the top, it was actually a challenge for him to close it earlier. 

 

First he takes out a box of cookies, she’s sure it’s peanut butter and chocolate just by the heavy scent that follows. He takes out a bowl of mixed berries and a tub of greek yoghurt, and then a bag of pretzels, and then a plate of salad, and her favourite pesto pasta, and his very own infamous tomato soup, and fried rice, and two burgers from Pop’s along with a milkshake. Betty stares at all the food with wide eyes and swallows slowly, he was not kidding when he said his first date would have a lot of food.  

 

“I’ll admit this isn’t the most balanced three course meal.” His smile is bashful and she leans over the variety of foods to kiss him. His tongue swipes her bottom lip and she gives him entrance to her mouth, when he bites down on her lip she wills herself to pull away before she starts to get carried away. 

 

“Oh!” Jughead said as he reached into the basket. “Can’t forget this. I want you to try this first.” 

 

She looks at him curiously and then looks at the foil plate in her hands. He removes the foil from the top and she almost drops the cheesecake in shock. “Juggie!” She exclaimed, eyeing the cake. “Is this a remake of the japanese cheesecake from Harmony Valley?” 

 

He nods with a grin and hands her a fork. “I haven’t tried it yet, tell me your thoughts though.” 

 

She speaks gibberish with her mouth stuffed with a forkful of cheesecake, Jughead smirks at her which causes her to giggle, some crumbs fall out of her mouth. Jughead gently raises his hand to her lips and brushes the cheesecake away, there’s cream on her lower lip and he waits for her to swallow before kissing her and licking it away. They eat everything slowly, Betty has moved in between his legs and she leans her back against his chest as he braids her hair lazily. They talk about everything and nothing, just as the many hours of conversation they had as friends except now he peppers kisses along her jaw and down her neck and can bite her earlobe and cause her to whisper his name in a way that’s indescribable. 

 

Jughead shakes his head defiantly “No way, Betts. You have to celebrate.” it was some time around 9:15 and Betty had gotten an email notification, quickly checking if it was from a college. It was from Yale and she had also received an email from Harvard half an hour earlier without realising. They opened it together, she was accepted into Harvard and Jughead is so sure that he’s on the verge of tears out of how proud and happy he is of her, he knows how it’s been a big dream of hers to go to Harvard and all her hard work is being paid off. However she isn’t accepted into Yale and her emotions change drastically in the span of a minute, no longer celebrating getting into her dream school. Jughead asked why, he didn’t understand since she’s always wanted to go to Harvard more than Yale. 

 

“Why don’t you understand!” Betty asks, her eyes burning a hole into his heart. “I don’t want to leave you again. Not just because we’re dating but I was so, so devastated after you left for Chester. I was basically nonfunctional and when you came back, I promised myself that I wouldn’t let you get away again. When I found out you applied for the yale scholarship I was so sure you’d get in and I was hoping I would too-” 

 

“Betts,” Jughead cuts her off, wrapping his hands around her neck and shifting closer towards her, they were no longer pressed against each other. “I’m not going anywhere, everything will be fine. It’ll be better than fine because we’re both going to be at schools we’ve always wanted to get into.” He reassures. “You have to be happy about Harvard, it’ll be great. Connecticut and Massachusetts aren’t that far away from each other. We can visit each other on the weekends or something. It’s like a two hour car ride or whatever. Betty, whatever it is we can make it work. Please tell me you’re going to be happy about Harvard.” 

 

She stares at him for a second, and then a second more. Of course they can visit each other, will it be the same? Maybe not. But she’s glad he’s the calm and collected one in this conversation. She nods wordlessly and pulls him into a hug. They stay in each other’s arms and warm embrace until the candle stops burning and it’s completely dark except for the group of people drinking by the side of the lamppost a couple hundred meters away. 

 

“Before we leave,” Jughead lights the candle up again and then rummages through his bag for something. “I have a surprise.” His hands dig around for a few moments more before he takes out a ziplock bag with two sheets of paper and a rock. 

 

Betty squints at him absentmindedly before gasping in shock. “Milo?” She points at the rock. Jughead takes it out and shows her the front of the rock, the pen has rubbed off a little but the smile is still visible. “Oh my god!” she laughs. “How?” 

 

“After meeting you at the river on the last day, I ran over here to get him. That’s why I left so fast, that and I didn’t want you to see me cry.” he admits. 

 

“I went back to find him a week later, you won’t be able to imagine how glum I felt when he wasn’t there.” 

 

Jughead just nods, he can imagine a twelve year old Betty, when her hair was almost down to her waist, when she still wore rainbow coloured beaded bracelets, looking desperately for a rock. Their rock. And he knows that she wouldn’t have given up easily, probably searching other areas of the park before finally leaving. “I babysat him for so long, now it’s your turn.” He says softly with a grin. 

 

“I can’t believe you kept it for so long.”

 

His eyebrows furrowed as he attempted to open the ziplock bag again. “Curse my strong hands.” he finally opens it and takes out the paper. “Wait till you see this.” 

 

She stares at him quizzically and leans in to look at it. 

 

“Remember in third grade when Ms Snow made us write a letter to our future selves in ten years to remind ourselves of what we loved? Well we’re eighteen now so I think that means it’s been ten years. I thought we could read ours together.” Jughead kept both of theirs because he was less forgetful amongst the two of them and Betty actually wanted to remember to read it but she knew her organisation wouldn’t help. 

 

Betty nods eagerly and takes the paper in his hands that says ‘To: 18 YEARS OLD BETTY.” Jughead unfolds the paper and the crease in the middle of the page is evidence of how it hasn’t been touched since they wrote it when they were eight. 

 

_ To future me,   _

_ Hi, Ms Snow says we have to write about things we love for our homework. She says sometimes when people grow older they forget what is important to them. I think that makes sense. Chic stopped going to football practice because he wants to go out with his friends, I know that football was important to him. I don’t want to be like that. So future Betty, don’t forget about the things you love. _

_ I love mom, and I love how she gets mad at me for playing with her jewelry box but she always ‘forgets’ to lock it in a cupboard.  _

_ I love dad because he always wakes up early to make me pancakes before ballet. And he lets me watch him work on different cars in the garage. Mom doesn’t like the grease on my forehead but dad says it’s funny.  _

_ I love Chic. he always lets me play with him, and he brings me to cycle at the park. I love Polly, even if she doesn’t want to play with me, I know she loves me back.  _

_ I love Juggie. Future Betty, he’s your best friend, of course you know that. You love him like he’s your family, he’s the best person ever. Don’t forget about him. He hugs you when you cry and he tries to make jokes because he doesn’t like seeing you sad. He’s so kind and sometimes he comes to school without eating dinner the night before or breakfast in the morning but he never asks for your food because he doesn’t want you to be hungry. He holds your hand and protects you everyday, and you love climbing trees with him. You love him because he’s super funny and the smartest person you know.  _

_ I love penny, Parker, Peyton, perry and Poppy. They’re the best goldfishes ever! Polly says I don’t truly love them because I don’t know who is who. But I do!  _

_ I also love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And I love pesto anything. Can this be about objects as well? I love the pocket watch Nana gave me even though it doesn’t work anymore.  _

 

_ Future Betty, you may think you’re the wiser one. But you aren’t!! Trust this letter! Don’t forget! _

 

_ Love from, Betty now. _

 

Betty loves how everything is written in her once favourite pink glitter gel pen, and some of the letters are smudged but she still likes it. “Wow, eight year old me seemed to have it all figured out.” she joked. 

 

Jugheads lightly nods and kisses her temple. “You bossing your future self is actually such a you thing to do. Do you remember writing that?” 

 

“Nope.” She pops the ‘p’ “Do you remember what you wrote?” 

 

He shakes his head. “Not at all, but we’ll find out.”  His note is folded up five times whereas Betty’s was only folded in half once. 

 

_ Future Jughead, read on, this is important.  _

_ Ms Snow says we have talk about things we love but I’m still not sure what to write. Betty said you know you love someone when you’d do anything for them. Does that mean stealing from the crafts aisle for them? because I think I would only do that for Betty. Kevin is sitting across from Betty, he’s drawing a heart with stick people inside. I think that’s his family. I love my family, even if they’re not around much I know they are trying their hardest. Jellybean is still small but I love her, future Jughead you have to love her even when she isn’t the size of your pillow. Betty is family. You love her the most, she’s always there for you. You have no other friends- but the green wide eyed girl that is giggling besides you right now about Kevin’s drawing is your best friend, she said so herself. She’s perfect, future Jughead! She says there’s no such thing as a perfect person, so I guess I shouldn’t say that. She’s an actual angel on earth and she’s really pretty and really caring. She knows when you’re sad, even if you try to hide it she just always knows! and whenever you stay overnight on her mattress you feel so at home because she talks to you about everything. Her family is also really important to you.  _

_ So ya, future Jughead. I think that’s all.  _

 

His note is written in a pastel blue ballpoint pen, obviously one of Betty’s. His handwriting is surprisingly neat, possible neater than it is now. 

 

They gravitate towards a somewhat companionable silence as they pack up. Jughead asks her if something’s wrong but she shakes her head and squeezes his hand harder. Betty thinks they’re going back home now, after all it is 10 but instead he drives further into sweetwater river to the rock pools. Betty rememberers coming here once, maybe twice but only briefly -preferring the lake more. He leans the bike onto the side of a tree and leads her in a couple meters to an area that’s barred off by two long pieces of tape. He steps over it and pulls Betty’s arm to do the same. 

 

“Juggie, no! it’s closed off” her lip is trapped between her teeth as she motions for him to go back to her side. 

 

He chuckles to himself. “I did that this morning, it’s not closed off. I just wanted to ensure no drunk friday night party people would come here.” He takes hold of her hand again and nods over to the rock pool. “Come on!” She warily steps over and they clumsily walk on the rocks until they get to a big one a couple meters up from the ground. Jughead takes his shirt, suspenders and jeans off, kicking his boots away violently before launching himself into the water with a huge splash. The water is cool but the air is warm, so he thinks it’s bearable. “Betts!” he calls upwards as he brushes his wet hair off his eyes. 

 

“I don’t know, Jug” she tells him. He somehow manages to convince her to come down and she agrees only because he tells her they can leave after she tries if she really doesn’t want to stay. She wearily tugs on the zip at the back of her dress and lets it fall down her shoulders to pool around her ankles. Jughead smirks at her matching lacy bra and underwear. “Move back! I don’t want to land on you.” Betty yells down. She lands in the water more gracefully than he does but she regrets jumping so fast as she wasn’t prepared for the coolness of the water. Jughead moves to the side and presses some sort of button, fairy lights taped to the side of the rocks light up and surround them. Betty shrieks in shock when his arms circle around hers, pulling her towards his chest. 

 

They settle somewhere close to the middle and his hands dance along her skin in a slippery motion. She leans in first to kiss him and he thinks maybe the thoughts that occupied her mind at the end of the picnic have wavered. She almost feels sorry for taking all of his body warmth. Almost. 

 

“This is too much.” She whispers to him with a smile. 

 

Jughead pulls her closer to him until her chest is pressed against his. “No it isn’t. You deserve so much more but this was the best I could do. I hope you’ve enjoyed this date.” He says hopefully. 

 

“I have, Juggie.” she replies. And he thinks she’s going to say more by the way she opens her mouth again but then she stops herself, thinking twice about it. He looks into her eyes intently, watching as the lights reflect her emerald green eyes often times turning hazel if he moved a millimeter. “Do you think we’re moving too fast?” it rushes out of her mouth before she can stop it, of course she didn’t want it to come out so bluntly. But Jughead seems to take no offense in it, urging her to go on instead. 

 

“How so?” 

 

Betty sighs and thinks for a moment more. “Juggie, we’re best friends, we have been for fourteen years until just two weeks ago when we were suddenly more than that? I don’t know what I’m saying… you don’t think this is going too fast?” 

 

“If anything, I think we’re moving too slow… we already know everything about each other and we know what we want. I want a future with you, Betts.” 

 

“We were always going to have a future together, as friends. Remember how we planned to have a small flat somewhere in New York, the heart of it all and we’d alternate who cooked dinner and every week, without fail, we would have to spend a whole night together no matter how busy we got? And I’d be your wingman when you find someone you were interested in, and you’d be mine. When did that change for us? When did you start seeing me differently, Jug?” 

 

He hadn’t really thought about this. Was there a particular moment when he started seeing Betty as more than his best friend? No… probably not. His feelings gradually changed over the few months since his arrival. When they shared their first kiss in front of Rosie to get her to believe they really were a couple it was still friendly then, a kiss that meant not much more than a hug to him. He’d never take advantage of her complete trust in him when he saw her naked after slipping in the bathroom, so he knows it wasn’t then, though he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t sexually attracted to her in a way that never really was there before. Jughead always knew she was beautiful, everyone would compliment her when they were playing together at the park, something about her eyes or symmetrical face or whatever but her beauty was never really a factor to their relationship. Was it through their time together at the blue and gold? Or the fact that she had gotten him the internship? Was it at Harmony Valley or the innocent kiss on his cheek when he dropped her off? Was it on Valentines day when he convinced her to go to dinner with Veronica and Brody? 

 

“Well-” He started without really anything else to say. He ran his fingers through his damp hair. “I’m not sure.” He admitted. “I saw you differently for a while but I tried to dismiss those feelings because you were dating Archie. I know you’re worried that our friendship may change, Veronica told me this morning. She said she’d knock me unconscious if I ever damaged our friendship, I have to admit, this girl really has an undying love for threatening me with a bat- anyways… no matter what, we’ll always be friends first, alright? And we can take things back a notch if you think we’re moving too quickly, I want you to feel comfortable.” 

 

Betty processes what he’s saying and then she giggles which earns her a confused expression on Jughead’s face. “You say that as we’re almost naked with our limbs entangled in a wet mess.” 

 

“Wet in which way?” Jughead replies with a wiggle of his eyebrows. The fact that he has it in him to flirt and joke makes Betty beam and flush deep red. 

 

“That’s gross, Jug!” She says with a light slap on his shoulder but still she adds “In more ways than one.” she winks at him and she can feel the bulge in his boxers twitch a little. He palms her cheeks and pulls her lips to his, kissing her slowly. When he pulls away with a satisfied smile Betty realises that maybe, just maybe, they’re moving at a perfect pace. “I like how it is now, Jug. I mean, I’m comfortable with the way we are and I can only look forward to what’s coming next. But can we promise that we’ll always be friends? I don’t want to think about us breaking up, but if we did-” she says doubtfully.

 

“-If we did, then we’ll still maintain our friendship. I promise.” His pinky finger is up childishly and she wraps her own around his, shaking it lightly in a childish manner. They stay like that for a while, the only sound coming from their breathing and the soft ripples of water whenever they move slightly. “When did you feel differently about me?” he asks after much consideration. 

 

“Somewhere in between all the flattery and insistence on getting a milkshake at Pop’s would be a fair place to start. I was over Archie long before I found out he cheated… Juggie, I really don’t want you to think I’m using you as a rebound or something. No matter what other people say about me moving on too fast for this to be true, you have to know that i-” 

 

“Hey, hey,” Jughead said stopping her mid ramble, “When did we listen to what other people thought about us? It didn’t matter when we were five, it shouldn’t matter now.” he decides firmly. Betty nodded a silent okay and moves to trail kisses down his neck. They both find purchase on each other’s skin, latching, biting and leaving marks. 

 

They stay there for longer than Jughead intended, only leaving when she began shivering. They don’t have towels so the fabric sticks to their body, Jughead wraps his leather jacket around her once she zips up her dress and they quickly walked back to the bike, driving to her house. He enters without an invitation and Betty’s glad she doesn’t have to ask him twice to stay the night with her. 

 

“You know…” she suggested with a bat of her eyelashes, “I heard that besides from warming yourself in a hot shower, they compare favourably to cool showers as it helps relieve stress. Care to join?” She asks with a sudden boost of confidence. 

 

“Wha- what?” Jughead stammers. “Is that an invitation? or a question? Or neither?” 

 

Betty blushes again and her chin dips downwards before she uneasily extends her arm, fingers circling around his wrist. “Join me.” her voice is almost inaudible, the smallest of whispers but the house is so empty that it’s almost loud. They remove each other’s respective pieces of clothing before stepping into the bathtub. Jughead tries not to stare but he can’t, has he ever seen anyone so beautiful in front of him before? If someone told him at the start of the year that Betty Cooper would be standing across from him, naked in the shower, he’d scoff and tell them they were crazy. It isn’t awkward, as Betty worried it would be, when they turn on the tap and begin to lather one another in soap, she allows herself to melt into a puddle in front of him. 

 

His hands start at her shoulder and he works his way around before stopping at her breasts, being extra gentle as he massages the body wash onto her soft skin and rinses it off. His hands travel lower, all over her curves and instead of feeling insecure, Betty feels so empowered. “Let me make you feel good, Betts.” Jughead finally says, breaking the comfortable silence. After telling his dad he was taking Betty out on a date, FP made sure that Jughead did his research. 

 

Betty looked up at him through her eyelashes, his stormy blue eyes, pupils dilated with arousal. “Can I?” He asks, his hands are resting on her waist waiting for permission to go lower. She nods, somewhat shyly and then whispers ‘yes’. It’s not long before she unravels, his fingers inside her, rubbing her clit and finding her ‘g-spot’ all whilst kissing her slowly. Sure she has had days where she’s been so uneasy that waiting it out wasn’t an option, causing her to resort to masterbating behind the locked door of her bedroom. But she had never felt like this. Not with Archie at least, they never once showered together in the three years they were together. After he held her up for what seemed like an eternity to her, gently cleaning her up between her legs, she clumsily got down on her knees, eye level with his waist. 

 

She swallows more so out of nerves rather than preventing her mouth from drying. “Could I return the favour?” she asks shakily. He watches her for a second and then attempts to pull her back up with a shake of his head. 

 

“Betts, you don’t have to.” His hands are underneath her armpits, urging for her to stand but her fingers quickly wrap around his dick and he freezes at her touch. 

 

“I know I don’t -but I want to.” She too had done her research in the early stages of her relationship with Archie, she didn’t want to disappoint him. Despite this, she never put a mouth on him, it never felt like the right moment but Archie was gentlemanly enough not to force her after she said she wasn’t ready for that yet. Now she knows she’s ready, quite possibly because it’s Jughead. “Alright, I’m gonna do it… I’m open to critique, tell me if I’m doing something wrong, okay, Jug?” 

 

She doesn’t give him a chance to reply. 

 

Jughead realised that she thrives on praise and so he tells her how great she is at this while tugging just the right amount on her hair. He doesn’t have enough time to pull away, and he watches himself spill inside of her mouth, he watches as her eyelashes flutter when she swallows his release. He feels weak in his knees and only kisses her and thanks her when she’s pressed against the bathroom tile minutes after he came.

 

After cleaning themselves off once more, they warily step out. Jughead takes her towel off the rack and gently dabs her dry, peppering kisses along her neck and shoulders. He wraps it around her and reaches for the spare towel on the rack but not before Betty takes it and puts it around her hair, running out of the bathroom. Jughead sighs before chasing her around her bedroom, so childish he thinks but he still likes this version of him. She shrieks and drops her own towel when his hands go around her waist, lifting her off the floor. He’s scared that her neighbors may see through the small gap in the window and so he throws the two of them on her bed, hiding her under the covers. She hands him back his towel in defeat and he covers his lower half with it, telling her to wait for a second as he finds Chic’s disposable boxers. 

 

When he goes back into her bedroom, he’s surprised to find her still laying naked on her bed. He’s certainly not complaining though. “You have beauty marks everywhere.” he tells her as his hands hover over the light switch. Everywhere, as in the area in her inner thighs that she so vividly remembers him sucking as the water ran down their backs, there undoubtedly would be purple marks tomorrow. 

 

Her cheeks are a dark shade of pink and she subconsciously bats her eyelashes. “If you keep saying things like that, we’re gonna have to shower in the dark.”

 

His finger hits the switch and he runs over to her bed in the dark, causing the bed to squeak a little at the added weight. “Are you saying we’ll be doing more of that?” he asks playfully. There’s no doubt in his mind that the view of her standing completely bare for him would occupy his mind for weeks, if not months, even in his dreams. 

 

Betty moves closer to him, to the point where her breasts are pressed right against his own chest “Well, I wouldn’t be opposed to that.” 

 

A low chuckle comes out of his mouth as the arms wrapped around her waist hug tighter, pulling her as close to him as possible. She nuzzled his neck and sighed happily. “You smell like vanilla and daisies.” 

 

Jughead pecked her lips and mirrored the same wide smile. “I smell like you.” 

 

His grip around her loosens as they both begin drifting to sleep but their fingers remain intertwined over the duvet. “I had a really wonderful night today, Juggie. Goodnight.” She says in a hoarse whisper before finally closing her eyes. 

 

“Mmm” is all that comes out of Jughead’s mouth as he falls asleep with a grin on his lips, his best friend and girlfriend by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (is it just me or is the formatting really weird)
> 
> !!Ending was sorta- definitely- completely rushed but I didn't know what else to write. Since the last update, I've done a gcse englit oral on my bday which was just a whole lot of fun... 
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter! thanks for all the kudos and comments <3  
> not sure when the next update will be, probably not for another month again tho.


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